Evaluating the Relationship between Freight Transport, Economic Prosperity, Urbanization, and CO2 Emissions: Evidence from Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea

Muhammad Shafique,Anam Azam,Muhammad Rafiq,Xiaowei Luo

doi:10.3390/su122410664

Abstract

This paper analyzes the relationship between freight transport, economic prosperity, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, energy consumption, and urbanization for three top Asian economies, namely, Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea during 1995–2017. For this purpose, we use the augmented Dickey-Fuller test for the stationary of the series, Johansen co-integration approach, and fully modified ordinary least squares and Granger causality model to infer the causal relationship between the study variables. The results show that economic prosperity (GDP) and energy consumption (EC) have a significant impact on freight transport (FT) for all three economies. In addition, the results also manifest the existence of bidirectional causality between GDP and FT in Singapore but a unidirectional causality running from GDP to FT in the case of Hong Kong and South Korea. As a quick policy option, controlling fossil fuel energy consumption in the transport sector may result in a remarkable reduction in CO2 emissions. The present study provides new insights to decision-makers for designing comprehensive energy and environmental policies for future sustainable freight transport growth in the long run.

Highlights

The transport sector is prominent because it plays a vital role in our daily lives and the country’s development
To fill this research gap, the current study investigates the relationship between freight transport energy consumption, urbanization, economic prosperity, and CO2 emissions in Hong Kong, Singapore, and South Korea since these regions are already developed and utilize greater fossil fuel energy for freight transport as compared to other Asian countries
The augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF) method fails to reject the null hypotheses that all the variables are non-stationary at levels for three economies, while rejecting the null hypotheses that all the variables are non-stationary at first difference for three economies

Summary

Introduction

The transport sector is prominent because it plays a vital role in our daily lives and the country’s development. It helps the connection between the different locations which promotes trade and development. It is a major source of fossil fuel energy consumption, which has a detrimental effect on the environment and has an enormous and increasing share of global carbon emissions [1]. Global CO2 emissions are projected to grow by about 50% in 2030 to about 80% in 2050 as energy demand rises and the number of road vehicle numbers increases [2]

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Methods

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Conclusion