Financial development, globalization, and CO2 emission in the presence of EKC: evidence from BRICS countries

This study examines the impact of energy consumption, financial development, globalization, economic growth, and urbanization on carbon dioxide emissions in the presence of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) model for BRICS economies, by using a family of econometric techniques robust to heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. Results from LM test, CIPS and CADF unit root test, Westerlund Cointegration test, the Dynamic seemingly unrelated regression (DSUR), and Dumitrescu-Hurlin Granger causality test show that (i) the data is cross sectionally dependent and heterogeneous; (ii) carbon dioxide emissions, energy consumption, financial development, globalization, economic growth, square of GDP and urbanization have integration of order one; (iii) the examined variables are co-integrated; (iv) energy consumption and financial development contribute to the carbon dioxide emissions whereas globalization and urbanization have negative but insignificant relationship with carbon dioxide emissions; (v) supports the EKC hypothesis in BRICS economies; (vi) bidirectional causality exists among energy consumption, financial development, economic growth and square of GDP with carbon dioxide emissions whereas globalization and urbanization have unidirectional relationship with carbon dioxide emissions. Since these panel techniques account for heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence in their estimation procedure, the empirical results are robust and reliable for policy recommendations. Furthermore, this study also uses time series tests (ADF, P-P, and FMOLS) to find the empirical results for each of the country and finds mixed results. Empirical findings directed towards some important policy implications.

Role of financial development, economic growth & foreign direct investment in driving climate change: A case of emerging ASEAN

In the context of remarkable economic growth and financial development in the emerging economies of East Asia, this paper attempts to shed light on the ecological consequences (CO2 emission) of economic growth, foreign direct investment and financial development in the selected ASEAN-5 economies. Drawing on the data from 1982 to 2014, we employed a set of quantitative techniques for panel data analysis which entailed Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) and Fully Modified OLS (FMOLS) approaches. Our findings indicate that financial and economic development, as well as FDI, have a statistically significant long-run co-integrating relationship with environmental degradation (CO² emissions) in the under analysis economies. It showed that in ASEAN-5 countries, economic growth, financial development and FDI leads to an increase in environmental degradation. The quadratic term for economic growth showed a negative impact on environmental degradation i.e. Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). Our key findings manifest and emphasise the importance of appropriate policies for more inclusive economic and financial development and sustainable foreign direct investment which does not impede on the environment.

The effect of ICT, financial development, growth, and trade openness on CO2 emissions: an empirical analysis

This study investigates the impact of Internet use, financial development, economic growth, and trade openness on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in selected European Union (EU) countries. To this end, pooled mean group (PMG) estimator is utilized for panel data from 2001 to 2014. Empirical findings suggest that Internet use has long-run relationship with CO₂ emissions and lowering the environmental quality in EU countries. Also, the electricity consumption has a positive and significant effect on CO₂ emissions. Moreover, interestingly, economic growth and financial development have a diminishing negative impact on CO₂ emission. Heterogeneous panel Granger causality results suggest unidirectional causality running from Internet use to CO₂ emissions. The finding implies that the European Union countries did not achieve the level of green information and telecommunication (ICTs) consumption. Overall, the innovative findings indicate that Internet use is raising the threat to the sustainable development. Thus, to curb and mitigate CO₂ emissions from Internet use and electricity consumption is the need of time to maintain the sustainable development in EU countries.

Grazing intensity significantly affects belowground carbon and nitrogen cycling in grassland ecosystems: a meta-analysis

Livestock grazing activities potentially alter ecosystem carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) cycles in grassland ecosystems. Despite the fact that numerous individual studies and a few meta-analyses had been conducted, how grazing, especially its intensity, affects belowground C and N cycling in grasslands remains unclear. In this study, we performed a comprehensive meta-analysis of 115 published studies to examine the responses of 19 variables associated with belowground C and N cycling to livestock grazing in global grasslands. Our results showed that, on average, grazing significantly decreased belowground C and N pools in grassland ecosystems, with the largest decreases in microbial biomass C and N (21.62% and 24.40%, respectively). In contrast, belowground fluxes, including soil respiration, soil net N mineralization and soil N nitrification increased by 4.25%, 34.67% and 25.87%, respectively, in grazed grasslands compared to ungrazed ones. More importantly, grazing intensity significantly affected the magnitude (even direction) of changes in the majority of the assessed belowground C and N pools and fluxes, and C : N ratio as well as soil moisture. Specifically,light grazing contributed to soil C and N sequestration whereas moderate and heavy grazing significantly increased C and N losses. In addition, soil depth, livestock type and climatic conditions influenced the responses of selected variables to livestock grazing to some degree. Our findings highlight the importance of the effects of grazing intensity on belowground C and N cycling, which may need to be incorporated into regional and global models for predicting effects of human disturbance on global grasslands and assessing the climate-biosphere feedbacks.

The effect of ICT on CO2 emissions in emerging economies: does the level of income matters?

In the modern era of globalization, the rapid increase in information and telecommunication technologies (ICTs) contributes in various sectors of an economy; however, the environmental consequences of ICTs cannot be ignored. Therefore, the study investigates the nexus between ICTs, economic growth, financial development, and environmental quality in emerging economies. The novel feature of the study is that the interaction term of ICT is introduced with economic growth and financial development. The empirical findings of the study are based on panel mean group (MG) and augmented mean group (AMG) estimation methods from 1990 to 2015. The following empirical results are established: first the ICTs significantly affect CO₂ emissions. Second, the moderating effect of ICT and financial development stimulate the level of CO₂ emissions. Third, economic growth contributes CO₂ emission; however, the interaction between ICT and GDP mitigates the level of pollution. Policy thresholds with the R&D in ICT sector are required to mitigate the level of CO₂ emission. Introduction of green ICTs projects in the financial sector is a better choice to improve the energy efficiency.

The dynamic nonlinear influence of ICT, financial development, and institutional quality on CO2 emission in Pakistan: new insights from QARDL approach

This novel research is an argumentative subject which was needed to be addressed and to fill this gap, the author examined the effect of financial development, information and communication technology, and institutional quality on CO2 emission in Pakistan by using quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) model. The data were obtained for the period from 1995Q1 to 2018Q4. In the long run, GDP and institutional quality have a positive impact on CO2 emission when this emission is already high, which shows that if the GDP and institutional quality increases, the CO2 emission also increases. Moreover, financial development and ICT has a negative impact on CO2 emission irrespective of emission level that whether it is high or low in the country, which shows that if financial enhancement and ICT increases, carbon emission decreases. The study also supported the EKC hypothesis in Pakistan.

Does financial development reduce environmental degradation? Evidence from a panel study of 129 countries

The purpose of this study is to explore the effect of financial development on CO2 emission in 129 countries classified by the income level. A panel CO2 emission model using urbanisation, GDP growth, trade openness, petroleum consumption and financial development variables that are major determinants of CO2 emission was constructed for the 1980-2011 period. The results revealed that the variables are cointegrated based on the Pedroni cointegration test. The dynamic ordinary least squares (OLS) and the Granger causality test results also show that financial development can improve environmental quality in the short run and long run due to its negative effect on CO2 emission. The rest of the determinants, especially petroleum consumption, are determined to be the major source of environmental damage in most of the income group countries. Based on the results obtained, the investigated countries should provide banking loans to projects and investments that can promote energy savings, energy efficiency and renewable energy to help these countries reduce environmental damage in both the short and long run.

It is time to control the worst: testing COVID-19 outbreak, energy consumption and CO2 emission

During the COVID-19 outbreak, managing energy consumption and CO2 emission remained a serious problem. The previous literature rarely solved this real-time issue, and there is a lack of public research proposing an effective way forward on it. However, the study examines the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on energy consumption and CO2 emission. The design of the study is quantitative, and the data is acquired from different online databases. The model of the study is inferred by using panel unit root test and ARDL test. The robustness of study findings was checked through panel quantile regression. The findings highlighted that the COVID-19 outbreak is negatively significant with energy consumption and CO2 emission. The study suggested revising the energy consumption patterns by developing and implementing the national action plan for energy consumption and environmental protection. The study also contributed in knowledge by suggesting the novel insight into CO2 emission and energy consumption patterns during COVID-19 pandemic and recommended to consider renewable energy transition methods as an opportunity for the society. For a more effective management of energy consumption and environmental pollution, country-specific measures are suggested to be taken, and the national government should support the concerned public departments, ministries and private organizations on it. To the best of our study, this is one of the pioneer studies studying this novel link and suggesting the way forward on recent topicality.

Influence of foreign direct investment on indicators of environmental degradation

This study aims to contribute to the existing literature by looking at the influence of foreign direct investment on carbon dioxide emissions, carbon footprint, and ecological footprint. In order to realize the aim of this study, we have utilized the augmented mean group estimator, which is supported by common correlated effect mean group estimator in the analysis for 20 countries. The panel results reveal that foreign direct investment has no effect on environmental degradation indicators. The panel results further reveal that gross domestic product, energy consumption, and urbanization are the main contributors to environmental degradation. The results at country level show that foreign direct investment and urbanization increase pollution in the developing countries while they mitigate pollution in the developed countries. Moreover, gross domestic product and energy consumption increase pollution for both developed and developing countries, which includes China and the USA. The negative impact of foreign direct investment on environmental degradation in the developed countries can be explained on the basis that these countries have strong environmental regulations, which makes it almost impossible for dirty foreign industries to invest therein. From the output of this research, several policy recommendations are enumerated for the investigated countries.

Economics of energy and environmental efficiency: evidence from OECD countries

The purpose of this research is to determine the efficiency of energy usage and its role in carbon dioxide emissions (CI) and economic-environmental efficiency (EEE) for some countries Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) economies. For environment quality assessment, data envelopment analysis (DEA) is used to assess the data cover the period from 2013 to 2017. In this study, primary energy consumption (PEC) and population are two basic inputs along with gross domestic product (GDP) and carbon dioxide emissions that are desirable and undesirable  outputs, respectively. The practical outcomes illustrate that Brunei, Australia, Singapore, and Hong Kong are the most effective and efficient states for the 5 years periods (2013-2017) in terms of energy efficiency and to reduce emission of carbon dioxide. In addition, other states in the OECD region shows greater economic proficiency than environmental proficiency. Furthermore, the results shows that energy efficiency has strong bonding with carbon emissions; however there is a weaker association between economic-environmental efficiency. Thus, the attainment of optimal level of energy efficiency could be more pivotal than economic efficiency to improve environmental efficiency in countries from the OECD region.

Modeling the impact of transport energy consumption on CO2 emission in Pakistan: Evidence from ARDL approach

The objective of this research is to examine the relationship between transport energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon dioxide emission (CO₂) from transport sector incorporating foreign direct investment and urbanization. This study is carried out in Pakistan by applying autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) and vector error correction model (VECM) over 1990-2015. The empirical results indicate a strong significant impact of transport energy consumption on CO₂ emissions from the transportation sector. Furthermore, foreign direct investment also contributes to CO₂ emission. Interestingly, the impact of economic growth and urbanization on transport CO₂ emission is statistically insignificant. Overall, transport energy consumption and foreign direct investment are not environmentally friendly. The new empirical evidence from this study provides a complete picture of the determinants of emissions from the transport sector and these novel findings not only help to advance the existing literature but also can be of special interest to the country's policymakers. So, we urge that government needs to focus on promoting the energy efficient means of transportation to improve environmental quality with less adverse influence on economic growth.

Impact of financial development on CO2 emissions: A comparative analysis of developing countries (D8) and developed countries (G8)

Financial development is one of the key drivers of rapid economic growth as well as CO₂ emission in the environment. This study aims to investigate the casual links between financial development and CO₂ emission in G8 and D8 countries for the time period from 1999 to 2013. We used PCA to develop financial development index from its five sub-components. Second-generation panel unit root tests are applied to check the stationary level and to tackle the presence of cross-sectional dependence in panels. The empirical results of PMG-panel ARDL technique show that financial development has significant and positive impact on carbon emission at a 1% statistical level in both panels in the long-run. The impact of financial development and energy consumption is more evident in D₈ and G₈ countries respectively. The energy use and trade openness affect positively while GDP significantly causes to decline the carbon emissions at 1% statistical level. The results of D-H causality test show that majority of the variables have one-way causality towards CO₂emission in both panels except the financial development and energy use having two-way causality in G8 panel only. The empirical findings of the present study suggest that through improved financial system, more funds should be invested in clean energy projects to adopt the renewable energy, strict monetary policies should be implemented to reduce the consumption of big ticket items, and adoption of measure to reduce trade embodied emission is suggested.

Asymmetric investigation to track the effect of urbanization, energy utilization, fossil fuel energy and CO2 emission on economic efficiency in China: another outlook

The accelerated urbanization in China was already coupled with a steadily increasing demand for energy usage. The present study major aim was to determine the asymmetric influence of urbanization, energy utilization, fossil fuel energy and CO₂ emission on economic progress in China by using an annual time series data varies from 1975 to 2017. Stationarity amid variables was verified by applying the unit root tests, while non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) bounds testing model was used to examine the asymmetric impacts on variables with short- and long-run dynamics. Outcomes revealed that via short-run estimates, the negative shocks of energy usage cause significantly to increase the economic efficiency, but positive shocks of energy utilization display the adverse linkage with the economic progress. Similarly, the negative shocks of GDP per capita growth demonstrate a substantial upsurge in the economic progress, and the positive shocks establish the adverse influence towards economic growth. Further, the outcomes of short-run dynamics also exposed the negative shocks of urbanization significantly affected the economic growth, but positive shocks exposed the adversative influence on economic growth. The outcomes display that fossil fuel energy consumption showed a constructive impact to economic progress, and additionally, the variable CO₂ emission also uncovered a positive shocks having significant impact on economic progress. Furthermore, the outcomes of long-run analysis express that energy utilization has negative and positive shocks that expose the adverse influence on economic progress of China. GDP per capita growth exposed the constructive influence on the economic growth in both shocks. The negative and positive shocks of urbanization demonstrate a noteworthy influence on economic growth. The variable fossil fuel energy consumption also exposed an optimistic influence on economic progress, and finally the influence of CO₂ emission on economic growth is insignificant as the results exposed. The reducing carbon alteration target aims to be reached for China, and in the next several decades, it will encourage the green energy options in order to decrease carbon dioxide emission to avoid environmental pollution by raising its energy intensity.

Impact of foreign direct investment, natural resources, renewable energy consumption, and economic growth on environmental degradation: evidence from BRICS, developing, developed and global countries

This research examined the impact of foreign direct investment, natural resources, renewable energy consumption, and economic growth on environmental degradation in BRICS, developing, developed, and global countries for the time period from 1991 to 2018 by using dynamic fixed effect model, GMM, and system GMM estimators. The examined results indicate that FDI causes environmental degradation in BRICS and developing countries while in developed countries, FDI helps environmental degradation reduction. The empirical results indicate that fuel resources and renewable energy consumption help to reduce the environment degradation in BRICS, developing, developed, and global countries while ore and metal resources cause environment degradation improvement in developed countries. Total natural resources (coal, oil, natural gas, and mineral rents) and economic growth are the main factors that boost the environmental degradation in BRICS, developing, developed, and global countries. Based on the examined results, policies are suggested for BRICS, developing, developed, and global countries. It is suggested that policy makers in these countries not only reply to protect environmental degradation but also support the growth of fuel resources, ore, and metal resource and total natural resources.

Effect of institutional quality and renewable energy consumption on CO2 emissions-an empirical investigation for developing countries

This paper investigates the role of institutional quality in moderating the impact of energy consumption on CO₂ emission, with other variables such as trade, capital formation, FDI, financial development and population in 39 developing countries for 1995-2017. We use mean group (MG), augmented mean group (AMG), common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG) estimator, dynamic system GMM, panel grouped-mean FMOLS and panel quantile regression for the empirical results. From the different estimation techniques, we find that institutional quality moderates energy consumption and strengthens its effectiveness in abating carbon emissions. The combined influence of institutional quality and sector wise energy consumption on emissions is significant and negative. Our finding also confirms the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis in the presence of institutional quality. Renewable energy consumption is also found to reduce emissions significantly in the long run. Given the importance of institutional quality and renewable energy in reducing CO₂ emission, the policymakers need to improve the quality of institutions and deploy more renewable energy for final consumption to achieve long-term climate goals.

Impact of Urbanization and Economic Growth on CO2 Emission: A Case of Far East Asian Countries

Rising CO₂ emission constitute a great threat to the world environment and public health. This study examines the major determinants of CO₂ emissions in Far East countries in the period of 1980 to 2017. We adopt a panel data-fixed effect model that accounts for time-invariant country-specific characteristics that may create omitted-variable bias. We also additionally take care of the time trend by applying an annual fixed effect into our model. The study finds that urbanization, economic growth and trade openness significantly determine CO₂ emission in the selected countries. Thus, the main policy suggestions are (a) to encourage green and sustainable urbanization, as it helps in economic progress but not at the expense of environmental deterioration; (b) to strategically regulate and improve industrial structure; and (c) enhance sharing of renewable energy in total energy consumption.

Determinants of economic growth and environmental sustainability in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation: evidence from panel ARDL

Considering the importance of green economic growth and environmental sustainability in the discussion, it is crucial to understand its critical contributing factors and to draw results implications for the green policy. This research used the data of the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) member countries for a period from 2005 to 2017. It adopted the panel autoregressive distributed lag technique to examine the hypotheses. The findings revealed that environmental sustainability is strongly and positively associated with national scale-level green practices, including renewable energy, regulatory pressure, and eco-friendly policies, and sustainable use of natural resources. Conversely, in our model, the "regulatory pressure" has an insignificant effect on economic growth. A necessary contribution of the present study is that a positive effect of green practices on national scale economic and environmental variables, particularly in the scenario of SAARC member states, can be noticed. At the end of the present study, we have provided policy implications for regulatory authorities and discussed potential areas for future research.

Towards Achieving Sustainable Development: Role of Technology Innovation, Technology Adoption and CO2 Emission for BRICS

In the digital era, technology innovation and adoption trigger economic growth and enhance CO₂ emissions through productivity, which places it in the mainstream policy debate. For BRICS economies, this paper uses the first method proposed in the literature to quantify their information and communication technology (ICT) and innovatively links each country to their information technology adoption rate, as a surrogate indicator for measuring information and communication technology. Environmental Kuznets curve evidence is also examined, using technology innovation, technology adoption, and trade openness as the control variables for sustainable development. The results show that two out of three technology innovation instruments, fixed telephone, and broadband subscriptions increase CO₂ emissions. Simultaneously, mobile cellular subscriptions have a lowering effect on CO₂ emission in BRICS. The technology adoption indicators, high-technology exports, and electric power consumption also cause an upsurge in CO₂ emission. Moreover, trade openness also enriches the level of CO₂ emission in the BRICS regions. There is a need to devise technology innovation and adoption policies to better use technology and to ensure a green environment.

Linking Innovative Human Capital, Economic Growth, and CO2 Emissions: An Empirical Study Based on Chinese Provincial Panel Data

To study the economic and environmental effects of human capital, previous studies measure human capital based on education; however, this approach has many shortcomings because not all educated people are innovative human capital. Hence, this study introduces the concept of innovative human capital by developing a new index that measures human capital based on the number of patents every one million R&D staff full-time equivalent. After this, this paper studies the impact of innovative human capital on CO₂ emissions in China. The provincial panel data of 30 Chinese provinces from 2003 to 2017 is analyzed using the fixed effect, ordinary least squares, and the system generalized method of moments (SYS-GMM). The analysis revealed that innovative human capital alleviates environmental deterioration in China. The findings unfold the existence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) considering innovative human capital in the model. It implies that Chinese economic development will eventually support environmental sustainability if China continues to develop its innovative human capital. Among the control variables, economic structure, population density, and energy intensity stimulate environmental degradation by increasing CO₂ emissions. However, FDI has a negative relationship with CO₂ emissions. Lastly, the study proposes comprehensive policies to increase innovative human capital for environmental sustainability.

The dynamics effect of green technology innovation on economic growth and CO2 emission in Singapore: new evidence from bootstrap ARDL approach

For an economy to excel in growth, there is usually a trade-off between financial development and environment deterioration. For a country like Singapore, which has shown a radical growth and is known for its population density, it is important to explore the role of green technology innovation in the pursuit of economic excellence with the least possible cost to the environment. By employing the novel bootstrap autoregressive-distributed lag (BARDL) technique using a time series data from 1990 to 2018, the results reported a positive and significant relationship of green technology innovation with economic growth and negative and significant relationship with carbon emissions in both long run and short run. Based on the findings, several managerial implications were discussed, whereas based on the limitations, directions for future researchers are also given.

Moderating the effect of globalization on financial development, energy consumption, human capital, and carbon emissions: evidence from G20 countries

The policy debate on the financial development and dynamic of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission is topical. Globalization can affect this relationship by making financial investments in green energy and environment-friendly technology, as environmental sustainability is the primary concern for modern society. This study proposes a newly formulated conceptual framework to explore globalization's moderating role on exoplanetary variables (financial development, energy consumption, human capital, and gross domestic product) and CO₂ emission. We employed Fixed Effect Ordinary Least Squares (FE-OLS), Driscoll-Kraay standard error approach (D-K), and Dumitrescu and Hurlin's (2012) panel causality test. Our sample of the study comprised full and subsamples of G20 countries (excluding the European Union) from 1986 to 2018. The results indicated that financial development and human capital decreased carbon emissions, while GDP and energy consumption substantially increased carbon emissions during the study time. Further, globalization moderated the positive impact of financial development and human development on carbon emissions. A sustainable environmental agenda is achieved by a stronger financial system, encouraging green finance, and including technical education that improves production efficiency. However, globalization moderated the negative impact of energy consumption and GDP on carbon emission. Besides, we also reported the bidirectional causal relationship of GDP to energy consumption. Our empirical research provides new insights for policymakers and governments to formulate country-based policies to protect environmental quality while achieving sustainable economic goals.

Trilemma association of energy consumption, carbon emission, and economic growth of BRICS and OECD regions: quantile regression estimation

Recent research has shown a huge impact of non-renewable energy (NRE) production on environmental health. In this context, this work analyzes the effects of GDP growth and long- and short-term consumption of renewable and non-renewable energy (RE and NRE, respectively) on carbon emission in BRICS and OECD economies. The quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) model was employed on the panel data from 1980 to 2016. Findings suggest a negative GDP-carbon emission correlation and a positive NRE-carbon emission correlation in the considered economies. Furthermore, carbon emission decreases with increase in gross capital formation, whereas trade openness does not have any significant effect on carbon emission. It has been determined that the application of the error correction method (ECM) has less effect on energy consumption as compared to the past levels and changes in energy consumption. In the long-term, a positive correlation of carbon emission and energy consumption is observed, whereas limited short-term effects of energy consumption on carbon emission are observed. Therefore, an RE-based energy production approach is recommended in the selected region for the future projects.

Processing conditions, rice properties, health and environment

Rice is the staple food for nearly two-thirds of the world’s population. Food components and environmental load of rice depends on the rice form that is resulted by different processing conditions. Brown rice (BR), germinated brown rice (GBR) and partially-milled rice (PMR) contains more health beneficial food components compared to the well milled rice (WMR). Although the arsenic concentration in cooked rice depends on the cooking methods, parboiled rice (PBR) seems to be relatively prone to arsenic contamination compared to that of untreated rice, if contaminated water is used for parboiling and cooking. A change in consumption patterns from PBR to untreated rice (non-parboiled), and WMR to PMR or BR may conserve about 43–54 million tons of rice and reduce the risk from arsenic contamination in the arsenic prone area. This study also reveals that a change in rice consumption patterns not only supply more food components but also reduces environmental loads. A switch in production and consumption patterns would improve food security where food grains are scarce, and provide more health beneficial food components, may prevent some diseases and ease the burden on the Earth. However, motivation and awareness of the environment and health, and even a nominal incentive may require for a method switching which may help in building a sustainable society.

Sustainable development and pollution: the effects of CO2 emission on population growth, food production, economic development, and energy consumption in Pakistan

Population growth has been a leading driver of global CO2 emissions over the last several decades. CO2 emission and greenhouse gas emissions are a key issue in the world that affects food production and also causes the climate change. The core purpose of this study was to inspect the influence of carbon dioxide emission to population growth, food production, economic growth, livestock and energy utilization in Pakistan. The STIRPAT (Stochastic Impact by Regression on Population, Affluence and Technology) model with the extension of an ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) method was utilized to demonstrate the linkage amid variables. Outcomes during short-run investigation reveal that variables population growth, economic growth, rural population growth, livestock production uncovered a productive association with CO2 emission. Furthermore, via long-run population growth, economic growth, rural population growth, livestock production and energy utilization have positive interaction with CO2 emission, while the variables food production and urban population growth demonstrated an adverse influence to CO2 emission during long- and short-run interaction. Similarly, the error correction model exposed that population growth, economic progress, livestock and energy utilization have constructive interaction to CO2 emission, while the variables food production, urban and rural population growth exposed an adverse impact to CO2 emission. On the basis of this analysis, we will address the strategic consequences.

Monetization of the environmental damage caused by fossil fuels

Fossil fuels account for more than 80% of the world's energy consumption. Constituents of the atmosphere have changed perceptibly due to the increased use of fossil fuels. Therefore, many researchers have tried to relate their effect on society. In Pakistan, fossil fuel consumption and its CO₂-based emission factor have been significantly correlated to economic growth. However, it needs further attention to study the adverse effects of fossil fuels. This study is an attempt to assess the cost of fossil fuels to society. Damages caused by fossil fuels are evaluated for the years of 2005-2009, using local pollution factors based on CO₂ emission. Results show that the market price of fossil fuels increases after adding up the cost of damage caused by the final use of the fuel. People pay a huge amount of PKR 133 billion per year for taxes, health services, insurance premiums, and low living standards. Accordingly, it is suggested that we must shift from fossil fuels to other alternative clean types of energy.