The impact of green trade and green growth on natural resources

Abstract

China has been facing increased economic as well as global pressure to indulge in accurate resource management and to look towards the resolution of major environmental issues. Hence, it is vital to study the impact of sustainability strategies like green growth and green trade in the perspective of China. In this view, the present study investigated the association between green growth and green trade in China on the usage of natural resources of energy (coal, gas, and oil) for the period of 1980–2020. Auto-regressive distributed lag, ARDL bounds test for co-integration, and pairwise granger causality tests were used to test the impact that the variables have on each other. The empirical results revealed that efficient resource use can increase significantly in response to an increased green growth of the Chinese economy and green trade policies. These findings suggest that environmental burdens can be minimized by reducing the use of natural resources like coal that contribute to air pollution. This study is significant as it suggests policies for the implementation of green environment and economic strategies in China and suggests that a reduced usage of natural energy resources can lead to a positive outcome of green growth and green trade in China.