Female parliamentarians and environment nexus: The neglected role of governance quality

Abstract

Despite the consensus that women are more likely than men to express support for environmental protection, the extant empirical evidence on this relationship at the political level is much disputed. We posit that the relationship between female political representation in national parliaments and CO2 emissions is conditioned by the level of governance quality. Using annual data from 119 countries between 2002 and 2012, we find strong evidence that female participation in politics decreases CO2 emissions in high government quality settings, but, worryingly, it leads to increases in CO2 emissions in countries with poor governance. This study highlights the important roles of governance quality in female parliamentarians - CO2 emissions nexus and sheds light on why the existing literature on this relationship has been so inconclusive.