The Impact of Forest Wood Product Exports on Environmental Performance in Asia

Abstract

The pressure on governments has been increased to improve their environmental performance across the globe. To ensure sustainability, every country is now responsible for educating its citizens on its environmental policies for decreasing pollution and managing natural resources. Therefore, it is crucial to manage all elements that have a negative impact on a country’s environmental performance in order to ensure sustainability. This study’s main goal was to investigate how factors such as forest wood product exports, energy use, urbanization, and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita in Asia affect environmental performance. In order to investigate the empirical links, this study analyzed annual data for 31 Asian countries from 2001 to 2020. Various econometric methodologies were used, including the generalized method of movement (GMM) approach and the Hausman test for fixed and random effects. According to the results of these econometric methodologies, forest wood product exports, urbanization, energy consumption, and GDP are all significantly contributing to Asia’s increasing CO2 emissions and deteriorating environmental performance. Based on the findings of this article, the selected Asian countries should curtail forest products in their trade basket in order to enhance environmental performance in the region. Furthermore, the alternative use of forest products and their exports could be increased to meet requirements.