Mitigates CO2 Emissions Research Articles

Asymmetric Effects of Corruption on CO2 Emissions in Pakistan: The Role of Human Capital and Foreign Direct Investment

This study aims to examine the relationship between corruption, human capital, FDI, GDP and CO2 emissions in Pakistan from 1996 to 2022. This study utilized the NARDL approach to estimate the asymmetric association. The empirical findings revealed that corruption in positive shocks enhances CO2 emissions while, in negative shocks, it mitigates CO2 emissions. Human capital and FDI played beneficial roles in decreasing CO2 emissions. On the other hand, GDP exacerbated CO2.The results highlight the importance of stringent accountability measures to stop more environmental damage. The study recommends that to effectively tackle both corruption and environmental challenges, there is a crucial need to invest in human capital. Strengthening human capital can help enhance accountability, reduce corruption, and promote sustainable environmental practices.

The synthesis of logistics performance and technological innovation on environmental quality

PurposeThis study aims to examine the impact of logistics performance and technological innovation on environmental quality in Africa, focusing on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and renewable energy consumption as indicators of environmental quality.Design/methodology/approachThe study employs a panel data analysis of 43 African countries over the period 1990–2021. Data on logistics performance, technological innovation, CO2 emissions, and renewable energy consumption are sourced from the World Development Indicators database of the World Bank. Grounded in the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) framework, which integrates economic, social and environmental dimensions of sustainability, the analysis utilises the generalised method of moments (GMM) technique to address the issue of endogeneity.FindingsThe regression results reveal significant relationships between logistics performance, technological innovation and environmental quality indicators. Logistics performance demonstrates a negative impact on CO2 emissions, while technological innovation positively influences renewable energy consumption. The interactive effect of logistics performance and technological innovation mitigates CO2 emissions, aligning with the TBL framework’s environmental dimension by promoting sustainability. Furthermore, trade openness exhibits a significant negative effect on both CO2 emissions and renewable energy consumption. The findings highlight the potential synergies between logistics performance and technological innovation in driving environmental sustainability while offering economic benefits and addressing social well-being.Practical implicationsThe findings suggest the importance of prioritising investments in enhancing logistics performance and fostering technological innovation to achieve environmental sustainability goals in Africa.Originality/valueTo the best of the researchers’ knowledge, this study presents an initial attempt to examine the nexus between logistics performance and environmental quality in Africa using the logistics performance index. Furthermore, beyond assessing the individual effects of logistics performance and technological innovation on environmental quality, we delve into their interactive dynamics, adding novelty to the study.

Unveiling the role of oxygen in ammonia coal combustion: A DFT study on NOx emission mechanism

Ammonia-coal combustion mitigates CO2 emissions, yet nitrogen oxide emissions and char nitrogen oxidation mechanisms require further study. Our research employs density functional theory to explore coal char interactions with NO, NH3, and the impact of hydroxyls (–OH) and oxygen on reduction–oxidation processes. Findings indicate oxygen aids in forming hydroxyls on coal char, facilitating NO to NO2 conversion, lowering the activation energy for ammonia-coal oxidation to NO2. Oxygen also promotes char nitrogen oxidation to NO, reducing its activation energy. In NH3/coal/O2 systems, NH3 oxidation initiates NO formation. With the increase of the temperature, the reduction rate of NO by ammonia is always higher than the production rate of NO.

Steering toward sustainability: Can dual circulation development mitigate CO2 emissions? —Evidence from China

To reduce greenhouse gas emissions and achieve high-quality economic development, China has proposed another development pattern called dual circulation development (CIR), along with the goals of “carbon neutrality and carbon peaking”. Based on the data of prefecture-level cities and above from 2006 to 2021, the fixed-effects model, 2SLS model, mediation model, threshold model, and spatial Durbin model are used to discuss the role of CIR in affecting CO2 emissions. Results demonstrate that (1) the overall CO2 emissions exhibit a decreasing trend from 2006 to 2021, and the CIR presents an upward trend. CIR and CO2 emissions show apparent geographical differences. (2) CIR effectively reduces CO2 emissions, and this effect exhibits clear heterogeneity of different regions, resource endowment, and pilot free trade zone. CIR mitigates CO2 emissions by enhancing technological innovation and promoting human capital mobility. Market scale and industrial structure optimization act as a “magnifying glass”, amplifying the impact of CIR on reducing CO2 emissions. (3) The negative spatial spillover effect of CIR on CO2 emissions shows a “V” shape characterized by strengthening and then weakening in the range of 0–700 km. At this point, the 700 km mark represents the decay boundary. Findings suggest that the government should enhance the domestic market environment and improve the quality of foreign trade to fulfill the role of CIR in mitigating CO2 emissions. These empirical evidence and feasible measures are provided for some countries to reduce CO2 emissions while promoting economic development.

Financial inclusion and the global net-zero emissions agenda: Does governance quality matter?

We inspect the impact of financial inclusion on carbon (CO2) emissions and the role that quality of governance plays using a global dataset from 119 countries between 2004 and 2020. We address endogeneity using the dynamic two-step generalized method of moment estimator and further test the robustness of results using the Driscol-Kraay estimator, which is crucial for addressing cross-sectional and temporal dependence. The findings showed that financial inclusion and quality of governance exhibited a positive and significant impact on CO2 emissions. Further analysis shows that the impact of financial inclusion and governance on CO2 emissions varies across countries at different stages of economic development. We also documented significant variations in the results across six geographical regions. Also, the evidence from moderation and marginal effect analysis revealed that the marginal effect of financial inclusion on CO2 emissions is contingent on governance quality and that improving governance quality (scores) conditions financial inclusion to minimize CO2 emissions across the globe. We, therefore, demonstrate that in countries with relatively higher (better) governance scores, such as the United Kingdom, Denmark, Singapore, and New Zealand, financial inclusion significantly mitigates CO2 emissions compared to countries with relatively lower (weak) governance scores, such as Iraq, Zimbabwe, Ghana, and Chad. Finally, mediation analysis also highlights that the effect of financial inclusion on CO2 emissions is mediated by renewable energy consumption, industrialization, and household consumption. The policy implications are discussed.

Specialized, diversified agglomeration and CO2 emissions —An empirical study based on panel data of Chinese cities

Taking proactive steps to control carbon emissions (CO2) in the industrial sector is crucial for meeting the “30.60” carbon reduction commitment expediently. This study meticulously investigates the correlation and underlying mechanisms between industrial agglomeration and CO2 emissions, employing the fixed-effect model and regulatory-effect model across 283 cities from 2006 to 2019.The findings reveal the following: Firstly, specialized agglomeration exacerbates CO2 emissions, while diversified agglomeration substantially contributes to their reduction. Notably, the carbon reduction effect of industrial diversification is particularly pronounced in the southern region, carbon peak region, and industrial transfer region. Secondly, delving into mechanisms uncovers that specialized agglomeration's exacerbating effect stems from labor misallocation, whereas diversified agglomeration mitigates CO2 emissions by enhancing both labor and capital allocation. Thirdly, regarding spatial spillover effects, specialized agglomeration not only increases CO2 emissions locally but also elevates nearby emissions, whereas diverse agglomeration not only reduces local CO2 emissions but also radiates carbon reduction in adjacent areas. To fully realize the benefits of agglomeration in reducing carbon emissions and promoting regional development, the government should thus support diversified agglomeration, remove any barriers preventing the flow of production factors, and fortify interregional industrial division and cooperation.

From black to green: Quantifying the impact of economic growth, resource management, and green technologies on CO2 emissions

In an exploration of environmental concerns, this groundbreaking research delves into the relationship between GDP per capita, coal rents, forest rents, mineral rents, oil rents, natural gas rents, fossil fuels, renewables, environmental tax and environment-related technologies on CO2 emissions in 30 highly emitting countries from 1995 to 2021 using instrumental-variables regression Two-Stage least squares (IV-2SLS) regression and two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimates. Our results indicate a significant positive relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions across all quantiles, showcasing an EKC with diminishing marginal effects. Coal rents exhibit a statistically significant negative relationship with emissions, particularly in higher quantiles, and mineral rents show a negative association with CO2 emissions in lower and middle quantiles, reinforcing the idea of resource management in emissions reduction. Fossil fuels exert a considerable adverse impact on emissions, with a rising effect in progressive quantiles. Conversely, renewable energy significantly curtails CO2 emissions, with higher impacts in lower quantiles. Environmental tax also mitigates CO2 emissions. Environment-related technologies play a pivotal role in emission reduction, particularly in lower and middle quantiles, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, highlighting the importance of tailoring interventions to different emission levels and leveraging diverse strategies for sustainable development.

Efficacy of CO2 emission reduction strategies by countries pursuing energy efficiency, nuclear power, and renewable electricity

The discussion on CO2 mitigation strategies is increasing, and investors are interested in disclosing electricity generation pathways that effectively alleviate CO2 emissions. As such, this research proposes hierarchical analyses using stepwise regression and pairwise correlation for 133 countries over 31 years to explain how they use their energy sources, including efficiency, nuclear, and renewable electricity pathways, to mitigate CO2 emissions. Firstly, the results discover that renewable electricity effectively mitigates CO2 emissions, further supported by the incremental change in the R-squared value. Secondly, the results do not support the idea that nuclear power mitigates CO2. In contrast, it is noted that the efficacy of nuclear power on CO2 emission mitigation is effective through the moderation of GDP. This relationship demonstrates that the connection between CO2 and nuclear power is conducive to environmental quality in countries with increasing economic growth. Third, the negative coefficients of energy efficiency across the tested models indicate that the countries' energy efficiency is effective in CO2 emissions reduction. Finally, the results discovered that nuclear and renewable electricity pathways tend to crowd out each other, where this phenomenon is not valid in the cases of nuclear power-energy efficiency and renewable electricity-energy efficiency, where they support each other.

Paving the way: Analysing energy transition pathways and green hydrogen exports in developing countries – The case of Algeria

The measures needed to limit global warming pose a particular challenge to current fossil fuel exporters, who must not only decarbonise their local energy systems, but also compensate for the expected decline in fossil fuel revenues. One possibility is seen in the export of green hydrogen. Using Algeria as a case study, this paper analyses how different levels of ambition in hydrogen exports, energy efficiency and fuel switching affect the cost-optimal expansion of the power sector for a given overall emissions reduction path. Despite falling costs for photovoltaics and wind turbines, the results indicate that in countries with very low natural gas prices, such as Algeria, a fully renewable electricity system by 2050 is unlikely without appropriate policy measures. The expansion of renewable energy should therefore start early, given the high annual growth rates required, which will be reinforced by additional green hydrogen exports. In parallel, energy efficiency is a key factor as it directly mitigates CO2 emissions from fossil fuels and reduces domestic electricity demand, which could instead be used for hydrogen production. Integrating electrolysers into the power system could potentially help to reduce specific costs through load shifting. Overall, it seems advisable to analyse hydrogen exports together with local decarbonisation in order to better understand their interactions and to reduce emissions as efficiently as possible. These results and the methodology could be transferred to other countries that want to become green hydrogen exporters in the future and are therefore a useful addition for researchers and policy makers.

Spatial effects of green innovation and carbon emission reduction in China: Mediating role of infrastructure and informatization

Green innovation (GI) plays a vital role in mitigating urban carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and fostering sustainable development in China. This study examines the impact of GI on CO2 emissions, underscoring its significance for environmental sustainability. The analysis of data from 253 Chinese cities from 2010 to 2020 shows a transition in GI from a “multipoint” sporadic pattern to a “clustered” aggregation, indicative of significant polarization. Concurrently, a converging trend in the CO2 emissions kernel density curve reflects the initial success of carbon reduction initiatives, demonstrating a notable “high in the north and low in the south” spatial disparity. Critically, the findings reveal that GI induces significant spatial spillover effects, reducing CO2 emissions not only locally but also in adjacent areas. The mediation analysis reveals that the level of infrastructure development acts as a masking factor, suggesting that despite infrastructure expansion potentially escalating CO2 emissions, alignment with GI principles steers its environmental impact towards a positive direction. Additionally, informatization's modest mediating role suggests that its enhancement, driven by GI, further mitigates CO2 emissions through improved resource efficiency. These insights highlight the importance of integrating GI into urban policy frameworks, emphasizing its role in environmental management and CO2 emission reduction.

Formulating sustainable development policy for a developed nation: exploring the role of renewable energy, natural gas efficiency and oil efficiency towards decarbonization

ABSTRACT Limiting CO2 emissions is crucial for sustainable development, environmental protection, and climate change mitigation, ensuring a more resilient and cleaner future. Prioritizing sustainable urbanization renewable energy, and energy efficiency is vital for achieving this prosperous and sustainable future. As a result, we adopt the Fourier testing approach for stationary, cointegration, estimator, and causality, to scrutinize the role of renewable energy, energy efficiency, and urbanization on CO2 emissions in Finland over the period between 1990 and 2020, controlling economic growth and trade openness. The empirical analysis of the Fourier ARDL estimator establishes that energy efficiency measures such as gas and oil efficiency exhibit an adverse effect on CO2 emissions, so energy efficiency mitigates CO2 emissions. Similarly, the study also found that urbanization and renewable energy reduce CO2 emissions. Conversely, economic growth and trade openness induce CO2 emissions. Additionally, the Fourier-Toda-Yamamoto method provides robust evidence regarding the long-term implications of the examined factors. Based on this result, the study emphasizes that implementing a regulatory framework to enhance energy efficiency, promote renewable energy adoption, and support sustainable urban development will be an essential strategy in the global effort to attain the net-zero emissions target, which offers valuable insights to other countries seeking to transition towards cleaner and more sustainable energy sources.

Trade openness, financial development, and urbanization in the renewable energy-growth-environment nexus

ABSTRACT The renewable energy-economic growth-environment nexus has been generally considered an important puzzle that needs to be addressed for the following phrases of sustainable economic growth and development globally. The existing literature confirms the potential role of trade openness, financial development, and urbanization in this nexus. However, these roles have largely been ignored in empirical studies. This study uses the second-generation macro econometrics regarding panel unit root tests, cointegration tests, long-run estimations, and Granger homogeneous non-causality tests to investigate these impacts on the important nexus. First, the findings reveal that economic growth increases CO2 emissions, whereas renewable energy usage supports economic growth and mitigates CO2 emissions. There appears to be a bidirectional causality relationship between renewable energy and economic growth, which Granger-cause CO2 emissions unidirectionally. Second, trade openness increases CO2 emissions and renewable energy usage. We also find that financial development positively contributes to economic growth, whereas urbanization has no impact on the nexus in the long run. Third, trade openness Granger causes economic growth bidirectionally, and unidirectional causality from financial development to economic growth and CO2 emissions is found. Our results confirm a bidirectional causality relationship between urbanization, economic growth, and CO2 emissions and a unidirectional causality relationship from renewable energy to urbanization. Policy implications have emerged for countries globally, including emerging markets, which are the main emitters. Increased renewable energy supply and usage in total energy and extended financial systerms will sustain economic development and limit CO2 emissions.

Dynamic nexus between non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth and CO2 emission: A comparison analysis between major emitters

Non-renewable energy fosters economic growth, whilst simultaneously it serves as the primary source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. Using data from the world's three major carbon emitters over the period 1980–2020, this paper adopts the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) approach to explore the dynamic nexus between energy consumption, economic growth and CO2 emissions. The results reveal that energy consumption matters for economic growth. From a short-term perspective, an increase in oil consumption positively impacts economic growth in the United States and India, whereas a negative shock solely affects China's economic growth. Regarding coal consumption, a positive shock only affects the US's economic growth, while China and India are more likely to be affected by a negative consumption shock. In the long run, the nexus between oil consumption and economic growth exhibits a similar asymmetric pattern in China and the United States. Concerning the effect of coal consumption on economic growth, only negative shocks count for China and positive shocks for the United States. The findings also identify various patterns of energy consumption on CO2 emissions. An increase in oil consumption, whether from a short- or long-run perspective, increases CO2 emissions in all three countries, while a decrease in oil consumption only mitigates CO2 emissions in China and the United States. There are more complicated patterns to the role of coal consumption in CO2 emissions. The results vary significantly from country to country; however, energy consumption has generally promoted economic growth as well as resulted in environmental issues that cannot be disregarded.

Can green resource productivity, renewable energy, and economic globalization drive the pursuit of carbon neutrality in the top energy transition economies?

ABSTRACT This research explores the role of green resource productivity, renewable energy, economic globalization, and economic growth towards advancing the pursuits of decarbonization in top energy transition economies. This study achieves this objective by adopting both asymmetric and symmetric econometric methods for the period between 1990 and 2021. This study adopted the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) to uncover the asymmetric effect of the regressors on carbon emissions. The MMQR results suggest that in all quantiles, green resource productivity, renewable energy, and economic globalization mitigate CO2 emissions, while economic growth induces CO2 emissions. Additionally, for the robustness analysis, we disaggregated economic globalization into trade and financial globalization and investigated their roles towards achieving decarbonization. We uncovered that financial globalization mitigates CO2 emissions at all quantiles, but at the lower and middle quantiles, trade globalization mitigates CO2 emissions. Moreover, for the symmetric estimation, the following estimators: Fixed effect Ordinary Least Square, Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square, and Dynamic Ordinary Least Square estimators were employed in this study. Their outcome corroborated the findings of this MMQR. For the Granger causality inference, the outcome suggests that there is a bi-directional causality between renewable energy and CO2 emissions. Furthermore, we find a feedback causality association between financial globalization and CO2 emissions, and a one-way causal interconnection is detected from CO2 emissions to trade globalization. Moreover, we detected that there is a causal association flowing from economic globalization to CO2 emissions. Finally, an unidirectional causal interaction is detected from economic growth to CO2 emissions. Consequently, the research’s findings provide applicable policy.

The Impact of Eco-Innovation and Clean Energy on Sustainable Development: Evidence from USA

In recent times, natural resources have been receiving greater acknowledgment from economies as it greatly offers a compensation for energy requirements. Solar energy appears to be a strong indicator to improve quality of air by reducing CO2 emissions, which has been neglected by the available literature. Therefore, the study considers exploring the dynamic role of solar energy in CO2 emissions and economic growth in a sample of the US. We applied the QARDL approach and covered the period ranging from 1990 to 2019. Our findings showcased that solar energy mitigates CO2 emissions by increasing economic growth in different quantiles in the USA. Solar energy use is increasing economic growth at higher quantiles in the USA. Eco innovations are also contributing to economic growth by reducing CO2 emissions in different quantiles. Bidirectional quantile causality was found between the constructs. This study suggested the usage of solar energy and eco-innovations in the sustainable growth pattern of the country.

Testing the asymmetric effect of financial stability towards carbon neutrality target: The case of Iceland and global comparison

In the last decade, the CO2 emissions in Iceland continues to relatively decrease; simultaneously, the country has been one of the highly financially stable country in the world. However, Iceland has higher per-capita CO2 emissions than several other European nations. As a result, the major question arising is, “what are the environmental effect of financial stability in Iceland?” This research scrutinizes the asymmetric effect of financial stability on CO2 emissions in Iceland. Using the quarterly dataset that span from 1995 to 2019. We employ the nonlinear ARDL and Fourier-based approach to uncover these asymmetric interconnections. The empirical findings of non-linear bound test and Fourier-based approach uncover the evident of cointegration between CO2 emissions and financial stability and other exogenous variables (such as income, energy use, and trade openness). The outcomes of the NARDL showed that a positive variation in financial stability mitigates CO2 emissions, whereas negative variation has a neutral impact on CO2 emissions. Furthermore, the result of other exogenous variables suggested that a positive change in energy use have an increased effects on CO2 emissions while a negative variation in energy use have mitigating effects on CO2 emissions. Also, Positive variation in income triggers CO2 emissions, but a negative variation in income has a neutral effect CO2 emission. Conversely, a negative variation in trade openness have increased effects on CO2 emissions, while a positive change in mitigating effects on CO2 emissions. The Fully modified ordinary least square and Dynamic ordinary least square estimators reveal that energy use and income level increase CO2 emissions, while trade openness and financial stability mitigate CO2 emissions. Policymakers in Iceland should focus their significant efforts on enhancing financial stability to encourage environmental innovation, investment, and technology by reducing the negative effect of financial stability. Furthermore, strengthening the trade liberalization policies toward the flow of green goods and services extends the environmental impacts of trade openness in Iceland.

How far renewable energy and globalization are useful to mitigate the environment in Mexico? Application of QARDL and spectral causality analysis

Renewable energy is considered to be a useful tool to mitigate global carbon dioxide emissions and its benefits are linked to globalization. To investigate the heterogeneous effects of renewable energy and globalization at different levels of carbon dioxide (CO2), the present study utilized the Quantile Autoregressive Lagged (QARDL) model. In addition, data for Mexico from 1990Q1-2018Q4 is used with the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). The findings show that renewable energy mitigates CO2 emissions regardless of the quantile level. However, globalization is found to raise the ratio of CO2 emissions while interacting with only the higher quantiles of CO2 emissions. Additionally, the Spectral Causal analysis reveals that the GDP and GDP squared granger cause the CO2 emissions only in the long run. Also, renewable energy and globalization significantly granger cause CO2 emissions in the short, medium, and long-run, suggesting that any policy shock in any independent series will lead to cause carbon emissions. Besides, the findings confirm the existence of the EKC hypothesis for Mexico. Some useful policy implications are suggested based on the short and long-run parameters.

Does Renewable Energy Sector Affect Industrialization-CO2 Emissions Nexus in Europe and Central Asia?

Current research assesses the impact of industrialization and the renewable energy sector on greenhouse gas emissions, proxied by CO2 emissions in Europe and Central Asia. We rely on a two-step system GMM estimator on a sample of 48 countries over the period 2000–2018. Empirical results show that industrialization has a positive effect on CO2 emissions: a 10% increase in industry value added as % of GDP leads to an increase of 2.6% in CO2 emissions. In contrast, renewable energy mitigates CO2 emissions. Ten percentage points increase in renewable energy consumption reduces CO2 emissions per capita by 2.2%. The interaction term between renewable energy and industry value added is negative, suggesting that renewable energy consumption compensates for the negative effect of industrialization on environmental quality. Our main results also confirm the U-shaped inverted relationship between GDP per capita and CO2 emissions. Our study has a number of policy implications and avenues for future research.

How does the internet economy affect CO2 emissions? Evidence from China

ABSTRACT To achieve China’s Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the development of the Internet economy has become an important choice for emission-reduction strategies, but the relevant emission-reduction mechanisms are still unclear. Accordingly, by constructing a system-generalized method of moments (system-GMM) approach following the STIRPAT framework, we explore the effect of the Internet economy on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through the mediating effect of traffic demand and the moderating effect of technological innovation using panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2017. The results indicate that: (1) the Internet economy mitigates CO2 emissions in China; for example, a 1% increase in the Internet economy indexes causes a 0.135% decrease in CO2 emissions; (2) the development of the Internet economy has an indirect effect on CO2 emissions by decreasing traffic demand; (3) technological innovation is a favorable moderator that expands the direct and indirect emission-reduction effects of the Internet economy; and (4) the mitigating effect of the Internet economy on CO2 emissions is significant at the lower quantiles (i.e. 10th, 25th, and 50th), which suggests the Internet economy is a superior predictor of CO2 emissions.

Renewable Energy, Urbanization, and CO2 Emissions: A Global Test

A fixed effects regression and two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) is used to analyze secondary data from the World Bank, covering 163 countries over the period from 2000 to 2016. The study tests the relationship between renewable energy, urbanization, and CO2 emissions. The empirical results show that urbanization has an inverted U-shaped relationship with CO2 emissions, while renewable energy consumption mitigates CO2 emissions. If causal, a 1% increase in renewable energy use leads to a 1.2% decrease in CO2 emissions. The results also show that the GDP per capita has an inverted U-shaped relationship with CO2 emissions, confirming the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). We also found that innovation, proxied by residents’ patents, has a non-linear effect on CO2 emissions. As a policy implication, developing countries should increase the share of renewable energy in their total energy use, and promote innovative activities by increasing government spending on R&D.