International tourism, social distribution, and environmental Kuznets curve: evidence from a panel of G-7 countries

Revisiting dynamic linkages among ecological sustainability, tourism, and climate change in China

The research intends to inquire into the dynamic connections between ecological sustainability, tourism, and climate change. This novel approach aims to investigate the interdependencies among these three important variables. This research aims to examine tourism's effects on environmental sustainability in the face of global warming. We use a large dataset that comprises measures of tourist success, measurements of environmental sustainability, and climate change factors. Applying empirical estimation techniques allows a more detailed look at the data by accounting for variation across quantiles. The results of this study will aid in expanding our knowledge of the relationships among ecological sustainability, tourism, and climate change. To better understand the influence of tourism on ecological sustainability, it is helpful to quantify the interactions at various quantiles. Policymakers, stakeholders in the tourist sector, and environmental groups will find this information essential as they work to establish focused measures to encourage environmentally responsible travel and lessen the impact of climate change. This investigation also provides policy implications by shedding light on the interplay of tourist growth, ecological sustainability, and climate change reduction and offers research-based research solutions for achieving this delicate balancing action.

Digital inclusive finance, agricultural green technology innovation and agricultural carbon emissions: Impact mechanism and empirical test

The impact of digital financial inclusion (If) and agricultural technology innovation (Gi) on agricultural carbon emissions has attracted wide attention from the academic community, but the inconsistent conclusions of existing studies and the reality that few studies have gathered them into a framework require more evidence to fill this gap, which can contribute more insights to promoting economic development and controlling carbon emissions. Taking the provincial-level relevant data of China's agriculture from 2011 to 2020 as a sample, the GMM method is used to integrally test the relationship between the three factors. The results show that (1) from 2011 to 2020, China's overall agricultural carbon emissions experienced two stages of fluctuating rise (2011-2015) and continuous decline (2015-2020). In 2015, China's agricultural carbon emissions peaked at 1,040 million tons; Overall, Hunan, Hubei, and Henan were the provinces with the largest agricultural carbon emissions; Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai are provinces with relatively low agricultural carbon emissions. (2) Although the impact of digital financial inclusion on agricultural carbon emissions is negative, it is not significant. (3) Agricultural technology innovation promoted the reduction of agricultural carbon emissions. If the level of agricultural technology innovation increased by 1 percentage point, agricultural carbon emissions would decrease by 0.09 percentage points. (4) Mechanism analysis showed that agricultural technology innovation could reduce carbon emissions through the efficiency of agricultural resource allocation, and its effect reached 56%. The results can provide a scientific basis for the government to formulate targeted policies, and the methods can be extended to other places.

The nexus between government spending, economic growth, and tourism under climate change: testing the CEM model for the USA

This study examines the impact of government spending, income, and tourism consumption on CO2 emissions in the 50 US states through a novel theoretical model derived from the Armey Curve model and the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. The findings of this research are essential for policymakers to develop effective strategies for mitigating environmental pollution. Utilizing panel cointegration analysis, the study provides valuable insights into whether continued increases in government spending contribute to higher pollution levels. By identifying the threshold point of spending as a percentage of GDP, policymakers can make informed decisions to avoid the trade-off between increased spending and environmental degradation. For instance, the analysis reveals that Hawaii's tipping point is 16.40%. The empirical results underscore the importance of adopting sustainable policies that foster economic growth while minimizing environmental harm. These findings will aid policymakers in formulating targeted and efficient approaches to tackle climate change and promote long-term environmental sustainability in the United States. Moreover, the impact of tourism development on CO2 emissions varies across states, with some US states experiencing a decrease while others see an increase.

How can environmental degradation and income disparities influence national health: an eye bird view on China's provinces

Growing socio-economic disparity is a global issue that could disturb community health. Numerous case studies have examined the health influences of income disparities as well as the patterns that implicate those disparities. Therefore, this study attempts to examine the core determinants of mortality rate, which are environmental degradation, green energy, health expenditures, and technology (ICT) for the 25 provinces of China over the period of 2005-2020. This study uses a series of estimators to investigate the preferred objectives in which CS-ARDL and common correlated effect mean group (CCE-MG). Estimated results show the significant contribution of environmental deterioration and income inequality to the mortality rate. Furthermore, health expenditures, ICT, and green energy significantly reduce the mortality rate. Similarly, the moderate effect of income inequality on health expenditure, green energy, and ICT significantly reduces the mortality rate in selected provinces of China. More interestingly, the current study suggests policy implications to reduce the rising trend of mortality rate.

Role of nuclear energy in carbon mitigation to achieve United Nations net zero carbon emission: evidence from Fourier bootstrap Toda-Yamamoto

In this communication, the time series data of three major countries USA, France, and Japan from 1965 to 2020 for CO₂ emission, GDP, and nuclear energy (NE) are evaluated. It also analyzed and validated the EKC hypothesis while using nuclear energy for electricity generation. Fourier ARDL is used to investigate the hypothesis criteria, and the Fourier bootstrap Toda-Yamamoto (FBTY) causality test is used for causal linkage between the variables as well as the wavelet coherence; it is also presented the time and frequency dependency of the variables. The CO₂ mitigation by using the NE is also assessed for all three countries and assessed that the France, Japan, and USA mitigated the CO₂ per year is 0.0463 million metric ton (MMT), 0.0239 and 0.0728 MMT per year respectively. Similar to that the SO₂ is reduced by using the NE is 24.322, 43.527, and 132.592 MMT/year, and NOx is reduced by approximately 0.2847, 0.147, and 0.4478 MMT/year by France, Japan, and USA respectively by applying the NE for power generation. The evidence of the EKC, Fourier bootstrap and Toda-Yamamoto clarifies the important role of nuclear energy in terms of carbon mitigation to achieve UN net zero carbon emission by 2050. Hence, in order to meet the UN target of net zero carbon emission by 2050, the USA and Japan should increase the production of nuclear energy as France meets its 74.1% energy demand through NE by validating the EKC hypothesis; on the other hand, all the three countries should increase the production of tidal energy due to their geographical location as tides are much more predictable than wind and sun keeping in consideration to the expenses incurred and a full proof plan for disposing NE residuals in a safe place as NE residuals are highly radioactive and contains traces of thorium and uranium.

Economic growth and greenhouse gases in Brazilian States: is the environmental Kuznets curve applicable hypothesis?

The aim of this study was to analyze the existence of the Kuznets environmental curve (EKC) hypothesis for a diverse spectrum of environmental pollutants (carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide) from the Brazilian states from 1980 to 2020. In the Kuznets hypothesis, economic growth, represented by GDP per capita, grows inflection in relation to environmental degradation. Upon reaching a certain point, the relationship becomes inversely opposite, being a positive trend of growth and a retract to environmental indicators, as in the case of greenhouse gases. The application of regression models in strict observance of Grossman and Krueger's EKC econometric model (1995) allowed a critical analysis of the Brazilian empirical model relative to pollutant emissions. The results show the corroboration of the EKC hypothesis for carbon dioxide and nitrous oxide, but not methane gas. Additionally, the discussion on the subject was extended to the debate about Brazil on the world stage. Brazil is on the world stage as a major influencer in environmental issues, so everything empirically contributes, both to academia and public managers, by presenting evidence of the relationship of economic growth aligned with sustainable development. Thus, the study provides contributions to professionals, researchers, and international readers. On the other hand, this study shows as political implications the need for improvements and reformulations of environmental policies in favor of mitigating environmental degradation.

Assessing the impact of green finance and urbanization on the tourism industry-an empirical study in China

There is a dearth of empirical studies looking at the link between green economic development and tourism in quantifiable terms. Using panel data from China's 30 provinces from 2005 to 2018, this study investigates the impact of green finance on China's tourism industry. Using renewable energy, income per capita, carbon emissions, and urbanizations as explanatory factors is also utilized. According to estimation, the findings reveal that green finance substantially impacts the tourism business. This positive effect is more pronounced in provinces where economic and social conditions are better, thus boosting the region's tourism industry. The same holds for income per capita, renewable energy, and environmental factors. In addition, urbanization has a negligible effect on the variable being studied. A further way to boost the growth of tourism is through the use of green finance. The empirical findings can benefit China's green financial planning and environmental sustainability.

Investigating the EKC hypothesis with renewable energy, nuclear energy, and R&D for EU: fresh panel evidence

The European Union (EU) is extremely concerned about the environmental harm caused by rising CO2 emissions and other factors. The EU has to uncover factors that decrease pollution before it's too late to achieve long-term sustainable growth. The paper applies the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis to examine the dynamic connection between GDP, energy use, energy intensity, research and development (R&D), and CO2 emissions. Data from 34 countries in the EU, spanning from 1990 to 2021, were applied. EU countries are very interdependent on one another due to tourism, trade, education, religion, and culture. Therefore, tests for cross-sectional dependency (CSD) and slope heterogeneity (SH) are used in this research. After establishing the presence of CSD and SH issues, the study employed second-generation unit root and cointegration tests. In response to these concerns, the study implemented a novel cross-section autoregressive distributed-lag model (CS-ARDL) method. There exists a U-shaped quadratic link between environmental pollution and wealth. That rules out the existence of the EKC hypothesis in the EU. This means that when income grows, pollution will drop up to a certain point, and then it will begin to climb again. Long-term pollution is reduced by the use of renewable energy and R&D. On the other hand, energy intensity increases CO2 emissions. The article also applied the CCEMG, AMG, and MG estimators to test the robustness. The CS-ARDL methodology demonstrates that increasing national income, nuclear energy, and investment in R&D alone will not be sufficient to fulfill environmental needs and that the use of alternative renewable energy sources is the greatest approach to mitigate environmental deterioration in the EU. The AMG, MG, and CCEMG estimators all agree that switching to renewable energy is the most effective strategy to lower emissions. This research offers crucial guidelines for advancing environmental policy and realizing sustainable development. Discussion, policy recommendations, and future research based on the findings are presented.

The influence and mechanism of health expenditures on investment of financial assets decisions: A case study of China's economy

Policymakers worldwide have been actively involved in the past few decades to ensure that human diseases are kept to a minimum. A new econometric technique, dynamic ARDL simulations, was used in this study to estimate and model the influence of health expenditures on investment in non-financial assets in China from 1990 to 2019. An economic growth framework, gross capital formation, information and communication technologies, foreign direct investment, and carbon emissions are all considered in the empirical model-the analysis produced interesting results. First, the estimates show that health expenditures and foreign direct investment have a significant long-run decreasing impact on non-financial assets in China by 0.451 and 0.234%. Second, economic growth and gross capital formation significantly affect the economy's non-financial assets. Likewise, ICT and carbon emissions also positively correlate with an explained variable in China. The findings show that the economy is becoming less investment-intensive as health spending and foreign direct investment rise. The study develops important policy implications for the selected country to achieve desired targets based on the empirical results.

Discovering the evolution of Pollution Haven Hypothesis: A literature review and future research agenda

In order to reduce environmental degradation, there has been an increased focus on identifying the main conftributors to environmental degradation and reducing carbon footprints to promote sustainable development. Although the recent focus on institutional and policy reforms has led to a higher focus on environmental discussion, little is known about the status of research on the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH). Hence, the current study evaluates the research dynamics of this field by recognizing most central researchers and key publication outlets from the perspectives of most citations and productivity, research directions, common keywords, countries with the highest academic contribution, and changes in research matrices. Our selection of 494 journal articles from the WOS indicates that King Saud University and the University of Wah were the most productive research institutions, and China was the most productive geographical region. Environmental Science & Pollution Research was identified as the most common outlet for research publications. We also identified strong academic cooperation, notably between China and Pakistan. Moreover, the co-occurrence network identified the Pollution Haven Hypothesis and economic growth nexus, trade, pollution haven and developing economies and FDI, carbon emissions, and pollution haven nexus as the three main prevailing research themes. Lastly, we provide useful policy implications to maximize the impact of environmental reforms and avoid environmental degradation.

The spillover of tourism development on CO2 emissions: a spatial econometric analysis

Climate change and tourism's interaction and vulnerability have been among the most hotly debated topics recently. In this context, the study focuses on how CO2 emissions, the primary cause of global warming and climate change, respond to changes in tourism development. In order to do so, the impact of tourism development on CO2 emissions in the most visited countries is investigated. A panel data from 2000 to 2017 for top 70 tourist countries are analysed using a spatial econometric method to investigate the spatial effect of tourism on environmental pollution. The direct, indirect, and overall impact of tourism on CO2 emissions are estimated using the most appropriate generalized nested spatial econometric (GNS) method. The findings reveal that tourism has a positive direct effect and a negative indirect effect; both are significant at the 1% level. The negative indirect effect of tourism is greater than its direct positive effect, implying an overall significantly negative impact. Further, the outcome of financial development and CO2 emissions have an inverted U-shaped and U-shaped relationship in direct and indirect impacts. Population density, trade openness, and economic growth significantly influence environmental pollution. In addition, education expenditure and infrastructure play a significant moderating role among tourism and environmental pollution. The results have important policy implications as they establish an inverted-U-shaped relationship among tourism and CO2 emissions and indicate that while a country's emissions initially rise with the tourism industry's growth, it begins declining after a limit.

Reinvestigating the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis by a composite model constructed on the Armey curve hypothesis with government spending for the US States

This study reinvestigates the EKC hypothesis for US states with a new methodology that differs from all previous empirical studies using traditional EKC models. To this aim, this methodology, for the first time, unifies two seemingly different but strongly interrelated hypotheses (models), namely the Armey curve (AC) and traditional EKC models, into one single composite model. The rationale for creating this composite model is twofold. First, the functional propositions of these two hypotheses are depicted with inverted U-shaped curves. Second, they also have economically interrelated-causal relationships. This means that rising government spending (through the AC hypothesis) increases real GDP per capita (RGDPPC) and, consequently, increases in RGDPPC (through the EKC hypothesis) increase CO2 emissions. The composite model created may also allow US state policymakers to determine a single maximum spending level that will maximize or minimize CO2 emissions. Empirical findings indicate that the composite model is capable of testing the EKC hypothesis for 7 US states. Additionally, for 7 US states, maximum spending level was calculated to be around 15% of their RGDPPCs. Hence, with this calculated spending level, policymakers of these states may be able to determine-adjust their golden spending levels so as not to cause environmental degradation and declines in GDP.

Evaluating an economic application of renewable generated hydrogen: A way forward for green economic performance and policy measures

Energy security and environmental measurements are incomplete without renewable energy; therefore, there is a dire need to explore new energy sources. Hence, this study aimed to measure the wind power potential to generate renewable hydrogen (H2), including its production and supply cost. This study used first-order engineering model and net present value to measure the levelized cost of wind-generated renewable hydrogen by using the data source of the Pakistan Meteorological Department and State Bank of Pakistan. Results showed that the use of surplus wind and renewable hydrogen energy for green economic production is suggested as an innovative project option for large-scale hydrogen use. The key annual running expenses for hydrogen are electricity and storage costs, which have a significant impact on the costs of renewable hydrogen. The results also indicated that the project can potentially cut carbon dioxide (CO2) pollution by 139 million metric tons and raise revenue for wind power plants by US$2998.52 million. The renewable electrolyzer plants avoided CO2 at a rate of US$24.9-36.9/ton under baseload service, relative to US$44.3/ton for the benchmark. However, in the more practical mid-load situation, these plants have significant benefits. Further, the wind-generated renewable hydrogen delivers 6-11% larger annual rate of return than the standard CO2 catch plant due to their capacity to remain running and supply hydrogen to the consumer through periods of plentiful wind and heat. Also, the measured levelized output cost of hydrogen (LCOH) was US$6.22/kgH2, and for the PEC system, it was US$8.43/kgH2. Finally, it is a mutually agreed consensus among environmental scientists that the integration of renewable energy is the way forward to increase energy security and environmental performance by ensuring uninterrupted clean and green energy. This application has the potential to address Pakistan's urgent issues of large-scale surplus wind- and solar-generated energy, as well as rising energy demand.

How do environmental regulations affect carbon emission and energy efficiency patterns? A provincial-level analysis of Chinese energy-intensive industries

This study measures the environmental regulation effect and pattern of carbon emission and energy efficiency through data envelopment analysis and econometric estimation. One of the most important ways to achieve a green transition is promoting technical progress through environmental regulation. Though China has witnessed rapid economic growth over the last two decades, the country can improve it further through adopting sustainable green energy and establishing more energy-efficient industries to strike a good balance between economic and social developments. The oil and carbon dioxide emission performances form the most important metrics. This study uses panel data from 30 Chinese provinces from 2008 to 2017 to assess the effect of environmental regulation on energy production. The nonradial directional distance function (NDDF) is used to measure the total factor energy efficiency index (TFEEI). The panel system GMM model, which can effectively address endogenous problems and regional variability, is utilized to research the nonlinear relationship between environmental regulations and EEI under various environmental regulations to study it. The findings reveal a considerably modest total average EEI amount for energy-intensive industries, averaging between 0.55 and 0.58, which is way below the ideal value (i.e., 1). Furthermore, the results of the dynamic panel data model revealed a significant U-shaped relationship between China's EEI and environmental regulation. The results show that as the values of market-based environmental regulations (MERs) and command and control environmental regulations (CCERs) exceed the corresponding levels, the impact of environmental regulation on the TFEEI increases gradually. This study will aid policymakers in better understanding the efficacy of different levels of environmental regulations to make more educated decisions.

Testing role of green financing on climate change mitigation: Evidences from G7 and E7 countries

The study estimates the long-run dynamics of a cleaner environment in promoting the gross domestic product of E7 and G7 countries. The recent study intends to estimate the climate change mitigation factor for a cleaner environment with the GDP of E7 countries and G7 countries from 2010 to 2018. For long-run estimation, second-generation panel data techniques including augmented Dickey-Fuller (ADF), Phillip-Peron technique and fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) techniques are applied to draw the long-run inference. The results of the study are robust with VECM technique. The outcomes of the study revealed that climate change mitigation indicators significantly affect the GDP of G7 countries than that of E7 countries. The GDP of both E7 and G7 countries is found depleting due to less clean environment. However, green financing techniques helps to clean the environment and reinforce the confidence of policymakers on the elevation of green economic growth in G7 and E7 countries. Furthermore, study results shown that a 1% rise in green financing index improves the environmental quality by 0.375% in G7 countries, while it purifies 0.3920% environment in E7 countries. There is a need to reduce environmental pollution, shift energy generation sources towards alternative, innovative and green sources.The study also provides different policy implications for the stakeholders guiding to actively promote financial hedging for green financing. So that climate change and envoirnmental pollution reduction could be achieved effectively. The novelty of the study lies in study framework.

The carbon dioxide neutralizing effect of energy innovation on international tourism in EU-5 countries under the prism of the EKC hypothesis

Mitigation of carbon dioxide emissions has become an utmost important global agenda, keeping into consideration the associated environmental hardships. As a result, it is important to unearth the factors which can neutralize carbon emissions to transform the world economy into a low-carbon one. Against this backdrop, this study explores the carbon dioxide neutralizing effects of economic growth, international tourism, clean energy promotion, and technological innovation in the context of five European Union (EU-5) nations during the 1990-2015 period. This study's main contribution is in terms of its approach to test the interaction effect between foreign direct investment (FDI) inflows and energy innovation on carbon dioxide emissions. The econometric analysis chronologically involves the employment of unit root, cointegration, causality, and regression methods. Overall, the findings support the inverted-U-shaped economic growth-carbon dioxide emissions nexus to verify the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Besides, the Pollution Haven Hypothesis in the context of the selected panel is also verified as higher FDI inflows are seen to boost the carbon dioxide emission levels. The results also confirm that energy innovation moderates the harmful effect of air transport (a proxy for international tourism) on carbon dioxide emissions during the developing stage of the tourism industry. On the other hand, renewable energy promotion is found to curb carbon dioxide emissions. These findings suggest that the European governments need to enhance investments in their respective renewable energy sectors and simultaneously ensure the development of clean industries, which can collectively help these nations become carbon-neutral in the future.

Nexus between energy policy and environmental performance in China: The moderating role of green finance adopted firms

This study measures the association between resources and the atmosphere; social and environmental aspects of energy production have become critical. In this context, the aim of this research is to explore the mediating effect of renewable energy patents in developing potential frameworks for energy policy viewpoints on the climate. The study took panel data from 2010 to 2017 and used a non-radial data envelopment analysis (DEA) process and panel data model for 30 Chinese provinces. The findings indicate that between 2010 and 2017, the average environmental efficiency index (EPI) of Chinese areas increased by 9.88%. When firms' internal variables are proxied by their commodity (revenue), the relationship term's point approximate coefficient is about 0.05. This magnitude means that a 1% rise in a company's assets will result in a 5% increase is estimated to be about 0.157, implying that a 1% rise in firm leverage is correlated with a 15.7%. Finally, based on the study results, some policy implications were proposed.

How energy insecurity leads to energy poverty? Do environmental consideration and climate change concerns matters

The aim of the study is to estimate the nexus between energy insecurity and energy poverty with the role of climate change and other environmental concerns. We used DEA like WP methods and properties of MCDA, a most common form of data envelopment analysis (DEA) to estimate the nexus between constructs. This paper presents a measurement and analysis of G7 countries' energy, economic, social, and environmental performance associated with energy poverty indexes. The study used the multiple, comprehensive, and relevant set of indicators, including energy economics and environmental consideration of energy poverty. The net energy consumption of al G7 economies is equal to 34 percent of the entire world along with the net estimate GDP score of around 50 percent. Using DEA modelling and estimation technique, our research presented valuable insights for readers, theorists and policy makers on energy, environment, energy poverty and climate change mitigation. For this reasons, all these indicators combined in a mathematical composite indicator to measure energy, economic, social, and environmental performance index (EPI). Results show that Canada has the highest EPII score, which shows that Canada's capacity to deal with energy self-sufficiency, economic development, and environmental performance is greater than the other G7 countries. France and Italy rank second and third. Japan comes next with 0.50 EPI scores, while the USA has the lowest average EPI score environment vulnerable even though have higher economic development among the G7 group countries. We suggest a policy framework to strengthen the subject matter of the study.

Evaluating green innovation and performance of financial development: mediating concerns of environmental regulation

This research measures the relationship between green innovation and the performance of financial development by using an econometric estimation during the year of 2000 to 2018 in 28 Chinese provinces. It is intended to explore the relative role of green technological innovation in driving green financial development in the west and central China, as well as how it influences economic growth in these regions. Ordinary least square (OLS) framework was utilized in mainland China to perform empirical studies by using an econometric estimation. This study claims that China has adopted research-based education system, while those for economic growth and expenditure in the regions while the innovation parts results shows that the  tertiary education were 12.42% and 13.53% versus the 10.50% and 10.6% in the eastern area. The research-based education increases the patents in green innovation and boosts the environmental policy. The financial development led to green technological development and innovation. Green innovation and financial development decrease the emissions, and it is apparent that as environmental regulations stimulate technical development, the superiority of human resources increases. The findings indicate that green financing reduces short-term lending, thus limiting clean energy overinvestment, while the long-term loans have little impact on renewable energy overinvestment, and the intermediary effect is unmaintainable. Meanwhile, the green financial growth will reduce renewable energy overinvestment and increase renewable energy investment productivity to certain amount.

Vertical financial disparity, energy prices and emission reduction: Empirical insights from Pakistan

The economic and environmental aspects of energy production have become important due to the increasing complexity energy sector and envoirnmental pollution, warranting to test the connection between financial imbalances, energy prices and carbon emission. The study aims to test the impact of vertical fiscal imbalances (VFI) on energy prices and carbon emission trends by considering the dual-perspectives of environmental regulation and industrial structure. The empirical outcomes indicated that vertical fiscal imbalances limited the environmental quality of Pakistan. Furthermore, VFI also caused environmental degradation by affecting industrial structure. VFI inhibits the intensity of environmental regulation, promotes the upgrade of industrial structures, both of which cause additional carbon emissions. The study suggest to energy ministries and energy regulation offices to revisit the machinism of energy prices determination and revised machanisim should provide a user-friendly assessment to understand the actual costs associated with the rising concern of environmental pollution. By this, envoirnmental protection maximization and optimal energy conservation is expacted to increase. Based on empirical findings, the study extends the suggestion that vertical fiscal imbalances should be considered an active indicator by the key policy makers and other stakeholders for energy prices determination and environmental quality upgradation.

Assessing energy efficiency in the Asia-Pacific region and the mediating role of environmental pollution: evidence from a super-efficiency model with a weighting preference scheme

The demand for primary energy resources has increased significantly due to the rapid growth of the global economy and increasing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Therefore, improving energy efficiency levels is essential for global energy, energy security, and environmental sustainability. In the context of the Asia-Pacific region, the study of energy efficiency among different countries can play a role in better energy utilization. These countries also provide a policy for the Asia-Pacific region to improve its energy utilization. This study's primary focus is to investigate the optimal efficiency score of 15 areas of the Asia-Pacific region, and the analysis is based on super-efficiency (radical) and super slacks-based measure (SBM) data in a nonparametric DEA model. Three areas in the Asia-Pacific are selected for energy efficiency measures: South Asia, East Asia, and Australasia. The results suggest that Bangladesh, Pakistan, China, Singapore, New Zealand, the Philippines, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam obtain the most efficient score of 1 in both DEA models throughout the study period. Australia and Sri Lanka receive a low score during all study periods, while Hong Kong does not have data for all study years. The results of the study will help improve energy performance, cost-effectiveness, and environmental sustainability, increasing the competitiveness and scalability of efficient energy sources.

Assessment of rice and wheat production efficiency based on data envelopment analysis

Global warming, energy consumption (EC), and food safety have caused an increase of focus regarding agricultural crop productivity with a principal focus on CEs from crop farming. This study analyzes Pakistan, India, and China's rice and wheat production rating through the CCR and SBM DEA framework. The recorded rice (0.60) and wheat (1.00) production, through the CCR approach, can be considered the highest productivity. The rating productivity of the parallel DMUs for the CCR (or BCC) framework average degree of technical productivity of SBM model of wheat and rice production, which does not adhere to the degree of 100% amongst all countries. Keeping the area's efficiency in mind, the average technical productivity rating recorded through CCR is 0.87, and SBM is 0.86 and is significantly lower than the ideal rating in the original DEA. By decreasing tomato output through farmers' productive operations, energy can be conserved by 21.4% compared to its current level by enhancing the utilization of essential resources, chemical fertilizers, farmyard manure, and water bear comparatively greater trading weights. It is eminent to decrease energy usage and carbon discharge in rice production. Similarly, the high yield and adequate rice plantation methods should be encouraged in the given region.

Assessing the mechanism of energy efficiency and energy poverty alleviation based on environmental regulation policy measures

This work aims to assess multidimensional energy poverty and energy efficiency for environmental policy measures using data envelopment analysis (DEA), a DEA-Like mathematical composite indicator applied on a dataset based on multiple sets of variables from South Asian economies. The multidimensional energy poverty index (MEPI) is computed to analyze the combining effects and energy poverty in these countries. Simultaneously, South Asia's metropolitan areas' population rose by 130 million between 2001 and 2011 and is projected to expand by approximately 250 million by 2030. The findings reveal that endogenous increasing population shocks account for about 72% of energy use. In contrast, the long-term effects of remittance revenue, economic growth, and urbanization on energy use are approximately 20%, 8.25%, and 0.03%, respectively. This work advocates more coordinated and innovative policies to eliminate energy poverty. It can act as a base for policymakers and government officials to make efficient policies and enforce them properly in the regional power sector. Policies should be designed around a smarter use of biomass for cooking, alternate sources for domestic energy production, increased programs for biomass-based cookstoves, and periodic regional-level energy database development.

Does the combining effects of energy and consideration of financial development lead to environmental burden: social perspective of energy finance?

In light of the rapidly growing industrialization in BRICS and G7 regions, thorough energy, financials, and environmental analyses are essential for sustainable financial development in these countries. In this context, this work analyzes the relationship between energy, financial, and environmental sustainability and the regions' social performance. Data from 2000 to 2017 is analyzed through a data envelopment analysis (DEA) like a composite index. Results show China and Brazil's better performance in the region, with a sustainability score of 0.96, India was the third, followed by South Africa and Russia. Japan, the UK, and the USA were the most energy-efficient countries for five consecutive years. A 0.18%, 0.27%, 0.22%, 0.09%, 0.31%, and 0.32% reduction in carbon emission is observed with a 1% increase in R&D costs by Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the USA, respectively. This work contributes to the existing literature regarding an eco-friendly sustainable policy design for the G7 countries based on multiple indicators.

The impact of energy consumption to environmental sustainability: an extension of foreign direct investment induce pollution in Vietnam

Purpose

According to the crusade of the United Nations sustainable development goals (SDGs-6, 7,8,12 and 13) that addressed pertinent issues around, clean access to water, access to energy, responsible consumption and climate change mitigation alongside, respectively, Paris Kyoto Protocol agreement of mitigation of climate changes issues of vision 2030.

Design/methodology/approach

This purpose of this study aimed to assess the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis following the ecological footprint perspective with a data set covering the period 1995–2018. It is well-established that anthropogenic human activities are the root cause of environmental deterioration. To this end, the current study is fitted in a multivariate framework to ameliorate for omitted variable bias for the data set from 1995–2018 on a quarterly frequency using autoregressive distributive lag methodology. Subsequently, the stationarity status of the study underlines series were examined with a conventional unit root test and the Pesaran’s bounds test for cointegration analysis.

Findings

Empirical evidence from the bounds test to cointegration traces the co-integration relationship between ecological footprint, conventional energy use, foreign direct investment, international tourism arrival and water resources over the sampled period. The study, in the long run, affirms the N-shaped relationship between ecological footprint and foreign direct investment in Vietnam. Additionally, the present study validates the hypothesis of energy consumption-induced pollution emissions. The relationship between international tourism arrival and quality of the environment is statistically positive in both the short-run and long-run, as 1% in international tourism arrival worsens the quality of the environment by 0.45% and 0.4% in the short-run and long-run, respectively. Interestingly, water resource's major environmental issues that have plagued the Vietnam economy are inversely related to ecological footprint. Based on findings, Vietnamese policymakers may need to consider drafting appropriate environmental policies to tackle global warming while concurrently boosting economic development.

Originality/value

The present study focuses on Vietnam on the determinant of environmental quality measured by a broader indicator (ecological footprint). It is well-established that anthropogenic human activities are the root cause of environmental deterioration. The present study claims to distinct from previous literature in two-folds, namely, in terms of scope. Vietnam holds a very interesting energy mix and environmental dynamics, which has been ignored in the literature. Second, we argue to be the first based on our survey to explore the theme by incorporation of water resources and foreign direct investment intensification in the conventional pollution determinant model. This is in a bid to highlights the policy blueprint for the country (Vietnam), which is currently plagued with high pollution issues and the region at large.

Socioeconomic impacts of domestic biogas plants on rural households to strengthen energy security

The central theme of the study is to assess the socioeconomic impact of household biogas plants on rural households. To this end, the study selected respondents from biogas plant holders and non-holders of biogas plants in rural areas of Muzaffar-Garh. During the field survey, a questionnaire survey was conducted on 40 biogas users in two villages in each Tehsil and 40 non-biogas users in the same village. A survey based on pre-designed questionnaire was conducted, and main data of 320 households in four Tehsil districts (interviewees) in the Muzaffar-Garh region were collected. In this study, biogas is the input variable, while elderly education and total household income are the input socioeconomic variables. Farm productivity, time saving, indoor air pollution, household hygiene, and expenditure are intermediate variables. The output variables include income, health, and education level of minor children aged 2-5 years. Structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques that describe the relationship between input variables and output variables can be used to obtain steadfast results. Based on the estimates, we have observed that BG investments have substantial impacts on farm productivity, time savings, indoor air pollution, household hygiene, and expenditure, which in turn has played a role in improving the status of people. It is concluded that many direct and indirect socioeconomic impacts of holding biogas plants on rural households can be measured. In order to widely promote biogas technology as an alternative energy source nationwide, there must be greater public participation.

Co-movement of energy prices and stock market return: environmental wavelet nexus of COVID-19 pandemic from the USA, Europe, and China

This work aims to study the time-frequency relationship between the recent COVID-19 pandemic and instabilities in oil price and the stock market, geopolitical risks, and uncertainty in the economic policy in the USA, Europe, and China. The coherence wavelet method and the wavelet-based Granger causality tests are applied to the data (31st December 2019 to 1st August 2020) based on daily COVID-19 observations, oil prices, US-EPU, the US geopolitical risk index, and the US stock price index. The short- and long-term COVID-19 consequences are depicted differently and may initially be viewed as an economic crisis. The results illustrate the reduced industrial productivity, which intensifies with the increase in the pandemic's severeness (i.e., a 10.57% decrease in the productivity index with a 1% increase in the pandemic severeness). Similarly, indices for oil demand, stock market, GDP growth, and electricity demand decrease significantly with an increase in the pandemic severeness index (i.e., a 1% increase in the pandemic severeness results in a 0.9%, 0.67%, 1.12%, and 0.65% decrease, respectively). However, the oil market shows low co-movement with the stock exchange, exchange rate, and gold markets. Therefore, investors and the government are recommended to invest in the oil market to generate revenue during the sanctions period.

Modeling CO2 emissions in South Africa: empirical evidence from ARDL based bounds and wavelet coherence techniques

The theme of this paper is to explore the interconnection between financial development, real growth, and urbanization and CO₂ emissions using South Africa. The study used a recent econometric technique to investigate this relationship. The data used in this study cover period between 1971 and 2016. No previous research has utilized the wavelet coherence method to collect information on the correlation and causal interaction between these economic indicators at various frequencies and timeframes in the case of South Africa. The research objectives were to fix the questions: (i) if there is a stable long-run relationship among the indicators under consideration? (ii) Does financial development, economic growth, and urbanization affect CO₂ emissions? (iii) How are the indicators related, at different frequencies and various periods? The outcomes affirm that (i) financial development impacts CO₂ emissions positively. (ii) The linkage between urbanization and CO₂ emissions is negative. (iii) Positive interaction between real growth and CO₂. The results of the wavelet coherence approach support the ARDL long-term estimate. Based on these results, recommendations have been made.

An Evaluation of the Tourism-Induced Environmental Kuznets Curve (T-EKC) Hypothesis: Evidence from G7 Countries

This paper analyzes the legitimacy of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis for a group of seven (G7) countries over the period 1995–2015. In addition to testing the EKC speculation, the authors also would like to understand the ways in which increases in renewable energy consumption and the international tourism receipt affect the CO2 emissions in G7 countries, because the energy and tourism sectors may have considerable direct impacts on CO2 emissions. In this investigation, a panel bootstrap cointegration test and an augmented mean group (AMG) estimator were applied. The empirical findings indicate that the tourism-induced EKC hypothesis is valid only for France. Additionally, it was detected that a rise in renewable energy consumption has a negative (reduction) impact on CO2 emissions in France, Italy, the UK, and the US. However, an increase in the receipt of international touristm has a positive (additional) impact on Italy’s CO2 emissions. Hence, this country’s decision-makers should re-review their tourism policy to adopt a renewable-inclusive one for sustainable tourism and the environment.

The role of tourism and renewable energy in testing the environmental Kuznets curve in the BRICS countries: fresh evidence from methods of moments quantile regression

BRICS are among the rising nations which drive economic growth by excessive utilization of resources and resulting in environment degradation. Although there is bulk of research on environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), very limited studies explored the scope in context of tourism in BRICS countries. So this research is conducted to explore the association of tourism, renewable energy, and economic growth with carbon emissions by using annual data of BRICS countries from the year 1995 to 2018. By using the recent approach of method of moments quantile regression (MMQR), the finding shows that tourism has stronger significant negative effects from 10th to 40th quantile while the effects are insignificant at remaining quantiles. Furthermore, an inverted U-shape EKC curve is also apparent at all quantiles excluding 10th and 20th quantiles. For renewable energy, the results are found negatively significant across all quantiles (10th-90th) which claim that CO2 emission can be reduced by opting renewable sources. Hence, the empirical results of the current study provide insights for policymakers to consume renewable energy sources for the sustainable economic growth and solution of environmental problems.

Identifying the Carbon Emissions Damage to International Tourism: Turn a Blind Eye

The importance of sustainable tourism is largely discussed in environmental literature under two different main streams: first, an ample amount of literature is available on the role of international tourism in economic development; second, the existing literature mainly focused on estimating tourism carbon footprints across countries. Limited work has been done on identifying the cost of carbon emissions on the tourism industry, which is evaluated in this study to fill the existing literature gap by using a large panel of 132 countries between 1995 and 2018. The results show that carbon emissions damage, methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, and population density substantially decrease inbound tourism and international tourism receipts that result in an impact on the increase in international tourism expenditures across countries. The ex-ante analysis shows that inbound tourism will likely decrease from 19.546% to 16.854% due to an increase in carbon emissions damage of 0.357% to 1.349% for the period 2020–2028. Subsequently, international tourism expenditures will decrease from 19.758% to 12.384% by increasing carbon emissions damage from0.832% to 1.025%. Finally, international tourism revenues will subsequently decline from23.362% to 18.197% due to lowering carbon emissions damage from 0.397% to −0.113% over a time horizon.