Globalization-driven CO2 emissions in Singapore: an application of ARDL approach

Exploring the roles of green finance and environmental regulations on CO2es: defining the roles of social and economic globalization in the next eleven nations

Achieving sustainable environmental growth and preventing further environmental degradation are challenging goals for policymakers. This study looks at environmental laws and green finance's role in fostering a more sustainable environment. The literature still needs to empirically or theoretically investigate how environmental laws and green financing affect carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, particularly when combined with moderating factors such as social and economic globalization. As a result, this study investigates how environmental laws and green funding can help the N-11 nations cut their CO2 emissions. Our research uses empirical data from a group of the N-11 nations that span the years 2000 to 2019. To handle issues with panel data analysis, such as cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity, we use advanced panel approaches (CIPS and CADF unit root and cointegration test and cross-sectional augmented ARDL). This research demonstrates that green financing (GFI) and environmental laws (ENV) have a negative but significant effect on CO2 emissions. While social globalization moderates the causal relationship between energy consumption and GDP while negatively and significantly causing GFI and ENV with CO2 emissions among the N-11 countries, economic growth has had a positive and significant effect on CO2 emissions in the N-11 countries. According to our research, nations could achieve the SDG-7 and SDG-13 goals if they adopted green financial and environmental policies.

Evaluating the role of renewable energy and technology innovations in lowering CO2 emission: a wavelet coherence approach

Environmental sustainability is one of the most critical issues that require efficient environmental and economic policies in modern times. Advancements in renewables and green technologies contribute significantly to sustained long-term development without affecting environmental quality. Several studies focus on the association of carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂e) with economic variables. However, they ignored the impact of technological innovations and renewable energy consumption on CO₂e in developed countries. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between CO₂e, energy consumption, gross domestic product (GDP), renewable energy consumption, and technology innovations in G-7 countries by employing cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed (CS-ARDL) lag and wavelet coherence techniques during 1990-2020. The results depict that GDP and renewable energy consumption are inversely related to CO₂e. A 1% increase in CO₂e will decrease GDP and renewable energy consumption by 0.459 and 0.172% in the long run and by 0.471 and 0.183% in the short run in G7 countries. Technology innovations negatively impact CO₂e in the short run while positively influencing it in the long run. Considering the advancements in green technologies in different energy-dependent and manufacturing sectors is crucial for a sustainable environment in the long run. Such initiatives ensure the effective use of energy sources by limiting CO₂e in the atmosphere. Moreover, the dynamic common correlated effects mean group model confirms the reliability and effectiveness of the CS-ARDL. The wavelet coherence approach revealed a causality relation between CO2e and technology innovation in Italy, Japan, the UK, and the USA during the study period.

The role of economic growth, information technologies, and globalization in achieving environmental quality: a novel framework for selected Asian countries

This study examines the impact of information and communication technologies (ICT), GDP growth, population, and globalization on the environmental quality of 31 Asian economies (i.e., categorized as lower middle-income, upper middle-income, and high-income groups Asian economies). This analysis employed the time series data from 1990 to 2018. The robust second-generation econometric technologies are used in this analysis. This study applied the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) premises under the extended "STIRPAT model" to add population and GDP (per capita) and information technologies (ICTs) by employing ecological footprint. To estimate, the estimators of this study used the CS-ARDL estimates, and for robustness check, this study used the augmented mean group (AMG) test. The co-integration test found the long-run association between ecological footprint and its main determinants. The results of CS-ARDL have confirmed the imperative role of information technologies in mitigating the ecological footprint in the higher, upper-middle, and lower-middle-income economies of Asian economies. The statistical findings of this study are robust to diagnostic tests and alternative estimation proxies and techniques. Moreover, policymakers need to identify the direction of the information technology-ecological footprint nexus through cooperation in combating climate change with financial assistance in the ICT sector.

Defining the role of renewable energy, economic growth, globalization, energy consumption, and population growth on PM2.5 concentration: evidence from South Asian countries

Rapid industrialization and economic development in South Asia (SA) caused serious air pollution-related issues. Air pollutants, particularly fine particulate matter (PM_2.5), have negative effects on health, instigating widespread concern. The current study is an attempt to analyze the impact of non-renewable energy (NRE), globalization (GLO), GDP, renewable energy (RE), and population (POP) on PM_2.5 concentration in SA from 1998 to 2020. In doing so, this study incorporated advanced and robust econometric techniques, i.e., Pesaran (Economet Rev 34(6-10), 1089-1117, 2015), to check the cross-sectional dependency, and the unit root presence checked through Cross-sectional Im, Pesaran, and Shin (CIPS) and Cross-sectionally Augmented Dickey-Fuller (CADF) unit root tests. Moreover, the long and short-run association among the selected variables was analyzed through Westerlund and Edgerton (Econ Lett 97(3), 185-190, 2007), cointegration test, and cross-sectional augmented ARDL (CS-ARDL). The empirical results indicate that the panel was cross-sectionally correlated, stationary at the first difference, and co-integrated in the long run. Moreover, the CS-ARDL model indicates a positive association between GDP and PM_2.5 concentration. Similarly, NRE and POP contribute significantly to increasing the PM_2.5 concentration in SA. However, RE and GLO play an important role to decrease the PM_2.5 concentration in SA.

Financial Institutional and Market Deepening, and Environmental Quality Nexus: A Case Study in G-11 Economies Using CS-ARDL

This study presents a new insight into the dynamic relationship between financial institutional deepening (FID), financial deepening, financial market deepening (FMD), foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth (GDP), population, and carbon dioxide emissions (CO₂e) in the G-11 economies by employing a cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) approach during 1990-2019. The outcomes from the CS-ARDL and dynamic common correlated effects mean group (DCCEMG) models shows that financial deepening, GDP, FDI, and population degraded environmental quality both in the short run and the long run. Contrary to this, FID and FMD improves environmental quality in these countries. The government should work to maximize financial institutions (access, depth, efficiency) and financial markets (access, depth, efficiency) to reduce the CO₂e. A strong positive and in-phase correlation of CO₂e with economic growth and population is observed for G-11 countries. These results suggest policy makers should further improve financial institutions by creating opportunities for their populations. Moreover, the governments of G-11 countries should revise their foreign direct investment policies and attention should be given to import efficient means of energy production.

Recent scenario and nexus of globalization to CO2 emissions: Evidence from wavelet and Quantile on Quantile Regression approach

The ubiquitous increase in globalization and high carbon emissions, aiming to achieve non-zero emissions in the future, is a feasible challenge for a sustainable environment. Our study aims to investigate the impact of economic globalization on carbon emissions of the developed country covering the period of 1970-2019. The Wavelet Coherence (WC) and Quantile on Quantile Regression (QQR) approach have been used to analyse co-movements and feedback linkages of CO₂ emissions with globalization, economic growth, and consumption of coal at different quantiles. The results obtained from WC show that there exist significant positive co-movements in the in-phase and leading globalization, economic growth, coal consumption with CO₂ emissions. Further, the results of QQR indicate the existence of a positive and significant linkage between coal consumption and CO₂ emissions for the majority of quantiles, the positive. Still, there is an insignificant association between CO₂ with globalization and economic growth at most quantiles. Lastly, the quantile regression (QR) comparison with QQR suggests that our model is a good fit as the intercept estimates are similar and the slope coefficients follow a similar trend. To conclude, CO₂ emissions have positive associations and co-movements with globalization, economic growth, and coal consumption, but their statistical significance varies and directly affects the Country.

The assessment of environmental sustainability: The role of research and development in ASEAN countries

Considering the set targets of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to increase research and development (R&D) expenditures, this study probes the long-term and causal association between renewable energy (RE), nonrenewable energy (NRE), economic growth (GDP), and ecological footprints (EFs) in the context of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). Empirical evidence is based on the panel data throughout the period 1990-2016 for the selected six ASEAN economies. The Westerlund co-integration test confirms the long-run association between R&D, RE, NRE, GDP, and EF. The results of Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) and Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS) confirm the presence of EKC and show that R&D expenditures lower EF significantly. A 1% increase in R&D and RE decreases EF by 0.01% and 0.27%, respectively. Moreover, a 1% increase in GDP and NRE increases EF by 5.52% and 0.17%, respectively. This means that investment in R&D will enhance air quality by lowering EF in estimated panel countries. Moreover, NRE consumption and GDP increase EF. The panel causality results confirm the bidirectional association between GDP, RE use, R&D expenditures, and EF. To achieve a desirable goal of a clean environment, R&D expenditures hold a strong position for ASEAN countries. This finding should encourage governments to involve public and private investments in R&D programs for energy efficiency. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2022;18:1313-1320. © 2021 SETAC.

Associating Renewable Energy, Globalization, Agriculture, and Ecological Footprints: Implications for Sustainable Environment in South Asian Countries

The main purpose of this work is to investigate the impacts of globalization (GL), renewable energy (RE), and value-added agriculture (AG) on ecological footprints (EF) and CO₂ emissions. For quantitative analysis, this research paper includes yearly data from 1990-2018 for four South Asian nations: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. These countries are most vulnerable to climate hazards and rapid economic transitions. The Westerlund test provides a strong association among the panel data. The findings of ordinary least squares (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) show that RE is lowering CO₂ emissions and EF in the long run. A 1% increase in RE results in a 10.55% and 2.08% CO₂ decrease in emissions and EF, respectively. Globalization and AG are contributing to environmental degradation in selected South Asian countries. Therefore, these countries need to exploit solar energy to its full capacity. Moreover, these countries need to explore more RE resources to reduce their dependence on non-RE sources. These countries can make their agricultural sectors sustainable by following efficient farming practices. Environmental awareness should be enhanced among the farmers. Farmers can use animal fertilizers and clean inputs in AG to achieve sustainable agricultural products. Overall, this work suggests that these countries can achieve a cleaner environment by adopting RE and by promoting efficient technologies through globalization.

Globalization toward environmental sustainability and electricity consumption to environmental degradation: does EKC inverted U-shaped hypothesis exist between squared economic growth and CO2 emissions in top globalized economies

The study inspects the inverted U shape of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis following the influence of economic growth on CO₂ emissions and the reaction of electricity consumption and globalization toward CO₂ emissions in top globalized economies. This study has taken the data of the top 9 globalized countries from 1990 to 2019 while adopting fully modified ordinary least squares and dynamic ordinary least squares panel cointegration approaches to determine the long run effects and Dumitrescu and Hurlin panel causality for the directions of the causality among the variables. According to the long-term findings of the research, economic growth and electricity consumption substantially contribute to CO₂ secretions. On the other hand, the squared growth and globalization mitigate CO₂ emissions and contribute to environmental sustainability. However, the inverse influence of squared growth on CO₂ emissions shows the presence of the inverted U shape of the EKC hypothesis. Furthermore, Dumitrescu and Hurlin causality measures have shown the bi-directional causality of electricity consumption and economic growth with CO₂ emissions and globalization with economic growth. At the same time, unidirectional causality exists from globalization to CO₂ emissions, economic growth to electricity consumption, and electricity consumption to globalization. The study recommends long-term globalization and sustainable development projects to ensure environmental sustainability in these globalized economies.

Impact of financial inclusion and globalization on environmental quality: evidence from G20 economies

Sustainable development and addressing climate change are among the most pressing issues faced by countries around the world. This research investigates the dynamic associations between financial inclusion, globalization and CO₂ emissions of G20 nations from 2005 to 2018, considering the effects of industrial structure, corruption, green energy utilization and economic growth as control variables. In this study, both financial inclusion and globalization index were measured using principal component analysis (PCA). This study examines long-term associations using cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) technique that offers more accurate outcomes. In addition, the VECM Granger causality method was applied to find causal relationships between study variables. Findings show that in financial inclusion, globalization has positive significant effect on carbon emissions. Moreover, corruption and economic have positive impact on carbon emissions, and renewable energy shows negative impact on environmental quality. The findings of this research are critical for achieving sustainable development and pollution control goals. Governments need to work to bring into line the financial inclusion goals with renewable energy consumption habits and environmental strategies.

Analyzing the role of meteorological parameters and CO2 emissions towards crop production: empirical evidence from South Asian countries

It is need of the hour to investigate the impacts of climate parameters on agricultural production in a developing region of South Asia. Therefore, this work attempts to explore the climatic indicators on agricultural production for selected South Asian countries over the annual data of 1961-2016. This study estimates the impacts of rainfall, temperature, rural population, land under cereal production, and CO₂ emissions (ECO₂) on agricultural production. For empirical analysis, we applied second-generation unit root tests. After examining the order of integration of time series, we check for the co-integration among the variables. Before the co-integration test, we check for cross-section dependence among the variables. CD and LM tests confirm the existence of cross-section dependence. Afterward, we apply the Westerlund co-integration test to confirm the strong association among the variables. Further, we applied two methods for long-run coefficients of independent variables. Dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) and fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) tests were applied to cross-check the findings. Our findings show that rural population and rainfall are negatively associated with agricultural production. Moreover, temperature, land area under cereal production, and ECO₂ are positively associated with agricultural production. Our findings shed light on some important policy implications for South Asian countries.

The role of innovations and renewable energy consumption in reducing environmental degradation in OECD countries: an investigation for Innovation Claudia Curve

Rising economic growth in recent ages is the primary concern of most of the countries to enhance the living standard, but the ever-increasing production of economic activities consumes a lot of energy, which leads to a sharp increase in carbon dioxide emissions. Innovation may be a remedy that can help improve energy efficiency, obtain renewable energy, and promote economic growth, thereby protecting the quality of the environment. Therefore, this paper examines the role of innovation and renewable energy consumption in CO2 reduction in OECD countries from 2004 to 2019. By using the two-step system generalized of moment estimator, the results show that economic growth and innovation significantly increase carbon emissions, however the innovation Claudia Curve (ICC) is verified, and the environmental Kuznets curve does not exist. Foreign direct investment has a negative impact on carbon emissions, thus verifying the Pollution Hao hypothesis, whereas renewable energy also improves environmental quality, but the interaction between innovation and renewable energy consumption still increases carbon emissions. Financial development, industrialization, trade, and energy consumption have also been found to be harmful factors of environmental quality. Our findings have considerable policy implications for OECD countries on the improvement of innovation indicators and investment in renewable energy sources to rise environmental quality.

Understanding the relationship between globalization and biophysical resource consumption within safe operating limits for major Belt and Road Initiative countries

Over the past few years, a growing number of scholars have explored environmental deterioration and its connection to various indicators acting as proxies for growth and globalisation. Taking this into view, the current study examines the globalisation-environment nexus, using 66 major countries and administrative regions of the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) as case studies for 2000-2015. For this analysis, six biophysical resource usages were used within the safe operating space of the planetary boundary concept as proxies for the environmental state, along with the four main and five sub-indices of the Konjunkturforschungsstelle (KOF) globalisation index. Pearson's correlation, hierarchical clustering, redundancy analysis, linear regression, autoregressive integrated moving average (ARIMA) forecasting, etc. were used to infer existing trends, the interactions between the environment and globalisation, a projected future, and coupling with safe operating space aspects. The findings reveal the long-run asymmetric relationship of variables. Surpassing safe operating limits to achieve globalisation is the most prominent outcome. Economic, trade, and financial globalisation are more crucially related to biophysical resource usage. Nitrogen use and material footprint act as strong drivers for various indices of globalisation. At least 40% of countries are above the global average resource usage and 50% have crossed all of the safe operating limits. At the present rate, nearly 51% of countries might cross all their safe operating spaces in 2030. In a race to achieve more globalisation (0.95), more than 30% of countries might cross 5 of the 6 planetary boundaries. Land system change, the biogeochemical cycle, and climate change are impending as the most important domains to be focused on regarding globalisation. Based on the findings, it can be recommended that governments and policymakers devote more attention to reframing and redesigning globalisation to be more environment friendly to achieve long-term sustainable development goals.

Environmental concerns of financial inclusion and economic policy uncertainty in the era of globalization: evidence from low & high globalized OECD economies

Environmental consequences of financial aspects, policy uncertainties and rapid globalization is the topic of intense debate in present years. However, this study contribute to existing literature in an innovative way. We classified the 33 OECD economies in two group's lower globalized economies (LGE) and highly globalized economies (HGE), based on their level of globalization. Considering the cross-sectional dependency and slope heterogeneity in the data this study employed the Augmented Mean Group method to estimate the influence of financial inclusion, economic policy uncertainty and globalization on the environment quality of both groups for the period 1996-2019. The results revealed a negative significant impact of financial inclusion, while a positive significant impact of economic policy uncertainty on CO2 emissions in both groups, LGE and HGE. However the globalization estimated to have positive impact on CO2 emission in LGE's, in HGE's it is significantly impeding the CO2 emission. The interaction of globalization with financial inclusion and economic policy uncertainty respectively found negative and positive to effect the CO2 in both LGE's and HGE's. The study suggests that, LGE's are need to prepare for economic globalization, move toward adopting energy-efficient technology and promote trade in less-polluting products in order to sustain their environment quality. The outcomes of this study are robust by employing different model specifications.

Environmental degradation and financial development: do institutional quality and human capital make a difference in G11 nations?

Developing nations are rushing towards economic developments; however, this development is increasing the ecological footprints. In this regard, it has become important to identify the factors of environmental degradation. For sound economic growth, countries are enhancing their human resources with sound financial institutions. Therefore, this work examines the effects of human capital (HC), financial development (FD), and institutional quality (IQ) on ecological footprints (EF) in the group of 11 countries. This work also checks the interactional effect of FD, human capital, and IQ on ecological footprints. This work employs the annual data of 1984-2017 and utilizes the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag approach for panel data analysis (CS-ARDL). The findings show that FD is degrading the environmental quality by 0.04%. Furthermore, IQ and HC are improving environmental quality by 0.07% and 0.01%. The findings also reveal that FD is lowering ecological footprints through the channel of HC and IQ. Based on the findings, these countries need to extend human capital with an efficient institutional network for environmental sustainability. These countries need to allocate funds to the health and education sector to develop human capital. Moreover, human resource management tools should be strengthened to cope with the challenges of environmental problems.

Exploring the Roles of Renewable Energy, Education Spending, and CO2 Emissions towards Health Spending in South Asian Countries

This research is mainly aimed at determining the effect of renewable energy (RE), education expenditures, and CO2 emissions on health expenditures in selected South Asian countries. There is an insufficient number of studies that investigate the linkages between health expenditures (HE) and CO2 emissions in South Asian countries. This study combined RE and gross domestic product (GDP) to identify their effect on health spending. We utilized the annual data of 1990–2018, and applied FMOLS and DOLS estimators over the panel data of five South Asian countries. According to the DOLS and FMOLS long-run results, GDP, RE, and education expenditures are negatively associated with health expenditures. This suggests that renewable energy puts less pressure on environmental quality, which leads to less health spending in the five South Asian countries studied. The empirical results also show that HE and CO2 emissions are positively and significantly related, which implies that an increase in CO2 emissions increases the financial burden on the various countries’ health sector. This study, therefore, recommends the usage of renewable sources to improve public health and to help lower health expenditures. To achieve sustainable development, it is also important to increase investment in the educational sector in the various countries.

Examining the role of financial inclusion towards CO2 emissions: presenting the role of renewable energy and globalization in the context of EKC

To achieve sustainable development, the role of financial inclusion has been discussed in limited studies. Therefore, this work aims to investigate the impacts of financial inclusion, renewable energy, globalization, and economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions in the context of environmental Kuznets curve. The annual data of 1990-2017 is analyzed by employing second-generation methods. Westerlund test confirm the long-run association among the panel data. Cross-sectional auto-regressive distributive lag approach has been applied because this method considers the cross-sectional dependence among the panel data to provide robust results. The findings show that financial inclusion is increasing carbon dioxide emissions. This means that financial inclusion requires to integrate it with greener environmental policies. Renewable energy is helpful in mitigating the carbon dioxide emissions but globalization and economic growth are increasing carbon dioxide emissions. On the base of the findings, it is recommended that Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka need to revise their international trade policies to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Biomass energy consumption and its impacts on ecological footprints: analyzing the role of globalization and natural resources in the framework of EKC in SAARC countries

Research scholars have diverted their attention towards the effect of biomass energy use on ecological footprints. Although recent research has investigated this association, the link between ecological footprints and biomass energy consumption has not provided consistent results. Therefore, this research attempts to fill the gap by examining the ecological footprints-biomass energy consumption nexus in the context of environmental Kuznets curve over the period of 1990-2016 in South Asian Association for Regional Corporation (SAARC) countries. Moreover, this work incorporates globalization, natural resources, and economic growth (GDP) for empirical analysis. In doing empirical analysis, we applied some econometric analysis to deal with the issue of cross-sectional dependence in the data. The outcomes of fully modified ordinary least squares and dynamic ordinary least squares estimations show that biomass energy consumption increases ecological footprints in SAARC countries. Moreover, globalization and GDP are also increasing ecological footprints. Environmental Kuznets curve cannot be validated in estimated countries. The Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test confirms one-way causality from biomass energy usage to ecological footprints. On the base of empirical results, several policy implications are suggested for SAARC countries.

The importance of facilitating renewable energy transition for abating CO2 emissions in Morocco

ABSTRACT: Achieving environmental sustainability has become a core policy agenda of the Moroccan government. The nation's monotonic dependence on fossil fuels for meeting the local energy demand has been acknowledged as the major cause of environmental distress. Besides, Morocco has traditionally been a major importer of fossil fuels whereby the nation's fossil fuel dependency could not be phased out to a large extent. Consequently, the greenhouse gas emission figures of Morocco have persistently surged over the years. Moreover, Morocco has large reserves of untapped renewable energy sources which can be employed for producing power without significantly degrading the environment. Against this backdrop, this study explores the renewable energy consumption-carbon dioxide emissions nexus, controlling for economic growth, financial development, and foreign direct investment inflows, in the context of Morocco over the period between 1980 and 2017. In addition, along with the direct impacts, the indirect environmental impacts associated with renewable energy consumption are also scrutinized in this study. The empirical strategy involves the application of econometric methods that are robust to handling structural break issues in the data. Overall, the results reveal that renewable energy consumption curbs carbon dioxide emissions both in the short and long run. In contrast, financial development and foreign direct investment inflows boost carbon dioxide emissions in Morocco. However, these adverse environmental impacts are partially neutralized by facilitating greater renewable energy use within Morocco. The results indicate that renewable energy consumption interacts with financial development and foreign direct investment inflows to jointly reduce the carbon dioxide emission figures of Morocco in the long run. Furthermore, the findings also validate the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in the long run only. In line with these key findings, it is recommended that the Moroccan government should adopt relevant policies that can help the nation overcome the existing barriers faced in transitioning from non-renewable to renewable energy use. Simultaneously, it is also necessary for Morocco to achieve environmentally sustainable economic growth by greening its financial sector and revisiting its financial globalization policies.

Renewable energy and foreign direct investment: does the governance matter for CO2 emissions? Application of CS-ARDL

Climate change is a global problem, and the policy-makers are trying their best to mitigate the impacts of drastic climate variability. Considering the mandate of Kyoto Protocol, this work investigates the individual and interactive impacts of renewable energy, economic growth, government effectiveness, and foreign investment towards carbon emissions in selected South Asian countries of India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh. The annual data of 1996-2019 has been analyzed by adopting advance methods. After confirming the cross-sectional dependence in the panel data, Westerlund cointegration test confirms the strong association of 1% level among the variables. Cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag approach is employed to present long- and short-run coefficient values, which shows all data is having cross-sectional dependence at 1% level. Renewable energy and its interactive terms with government effectiveness and FDI are environmental friendly. A 1% increase in renewable energy is lowering CO2 emissions by 13.95%. Moreover, 1% increase in governance is reducing carbon emissions by 7.68%. This shows that these governments should integrate the FDI with renewable energy in the context of strict environmental policies. The attention should be on to generate more renewable energy. This can be done by importing latest technologies and to develop the domestic research and development expenditures.

The effect of technological innovation, FDI, and financial development on CO2 emission: evidence from the G8 countries

The nexus of foreign direct investment and economic growth has been extensively investigated by the researchers of environmental economics; however, few studies have been conducted to find the impact of financial development and technological innovation in the backdrop of the environment. In the G8 countries (UK, USA, Canada, Germany, France, Italy Russia, Japan), the rapid increase in urbanization resulting from their speedy economic growth has brought about a huge increase in energy consumption that is in turn responsible for contemporary environmental degradation. This research intends to find the impact of technological innovation, financial development, foreign direct investment, energy use, and urbanization on carbon emission in G8 member countries, based on data from 1990 to 2019. The findings present strong cross-sectional dependence within the panel countries. According to the FMLOS estimator, a statistically significant long-run and negative association with CO2 has been found between foreign direct investment, financial development, and technological innovation in G8 countries. A long-run bidirectional causality has been found among economic growth, financial development, urbanization, trade openness, CO2 emission, and energy use; antithetically there is unidirectional causality between carbon emission and foreign direct investment. A quality foreign direct investment is the present demand for the development of industries, technological innovation, and financial development for G8 countries. Furthermore, urbanization plays a major role in environmental degradation, and more improved policies are needed for these countries.

Evaluating the Influences of Natural Resources and Ageing People on CO2 Emissions in G-11 Nations: Application of CS-ARDL Approach

Globalization as well as the ratio of ageing people in the group of 11 (G-11) countries has seen a rapid increase in recent years. Therefore, this study aims to provide effective policy recommendations for sustainable development goals 13, 8, and 7, for the G-11 countries. This work estimates the impact of natural resources and the ageing population on the emission of carbon dioxide (CO₂) in G-11 countries using panel data from 1990–2020. For empirical results, second-generation methods were applied. The Westerlund co-integration test that assesses co-integration confirms the firm association among the parameters, and the values of coefficient of the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) approach show that a 1% increase in the ageing population will lower the emissions of CO₂ by 13.41% among G-11 countries. Moreover, the findings show that there exists an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) among natural resources, globalization, economic growth, ageing people, and the emission of CO₂. Based on the findings, this work presents some important policy implications for achieving sustainable growth in the G-11 countries. These countries need to lower the amount of energy obtained from fossil fuels to improve air quality.

Driving powers of the globalization on the urban ecology, a comparative study

BACKGROUND

The present study investigates the driving effects of globalization on the urban environment in two countries of Italy and Japan, which have the regular amplified economy among the advanced countries. For this purpose, a model with the collaboration of two main subjects of globalization coverage and urbanization and the methodological procedures of correlation test and structural analysis was constructed. A globalization index, namely the Maastricht globalization index (MGI), was assumed based on the integrated values of ten factors [HDI, ITA, GDP, FDI, TEI, GEE, GME, MCS, and IUI] besides three ecological indicators as the baseline of the urban environment, namely carbon dioxide emission (CDE), municipal solid wastes (MSW), and wastewater treatment plants (WTP).

RESULTS

Results revealed the positive associations between globalization and wastewater treatment of urban areas in both countries, exposing the influential role of globalization in connecting the urban population to the sewage plants. The results confirmed the positive role of globalization in decreasing carbon dioxide emissions and overall its practical influences to mitigate urban air pollution. However, the overall globalization effect on urban waste production was estimated differently in both countries.

CONCLUSIONS

Based on the MICMAC analysis, only three factors, namely HDI, ITA, GDP, and FDI, can express driving powers and a significant share of globalization coverage. Consequently, enhancing such indicators that belong to globalization's social and economic domains certainly can act as driver powers to mitigate the environmental issues of urbanization in the study areas.

Effects of population structure on CO2 emissions in South Asian countries: evidence from panel estimation

The rapidly changing population structure in South Asian countries is observed to be linked with growing social, economic, and environmental problems. Therefore, to enhance current wave of knowledge, this research investigated the effect of population structure on CO₂ emissions in some selected South Asian countries (Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal) over the period of 1990-2016. The results showed that age structure is associated with CO₂ emissions in the long run in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal. In addition, age structure drives more CO₂ emissions in India than in any other countries. People with age less than 15 years and people with age more than 65 years are responsible for increasing CO₂ emissions in India. On the other hand, in Pakistan, people of age less than 15 years are responsible for reduction of CO₂ emissions in the long run. In Nepal, age group of young people (less than 15 years) exerts negative effects on CO₂ emissions. The governments of these countries need to put serious attention toward age structure in order to improve air quality.

Particulate matter (PM2.5) and diseases: an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique

Air pollution can be attributed to the reduction in visibility, less agricultural activity, more health issues, and long-term destruction to infrastructure. This paper aimed to examine the validity of association among the Particulate matter (PM_2.5) and number of acute upper respiratory infection (ARI) and Asthma (AS) patients using an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach. This ARDL model study was conducted in Lahore, Pakistan. We used monthly data of ARI and AS patients acquired from Directorate General Health Services Punjab and PM_2.5 from Air Visual-IQAir during the period January 2018-August 2019. ARDL bound testing technique was used to investigate the association between number of AS, ARI patients and PM_2.5. In the short run, the PM_2.5 has substantial positive impact on number of AS patients in Lahore. The values of short-run coefficient depicts that the association between PM_2.5 and ARI patients is stronger than AS. The effect of PM_2.5 on number of patients in short term is more than that in the long-term. For both AS and ARI, in the long run, PM_2.5 has negative impact on number of patients.

CO2 emissions and the role of urbanization in East Asian and Pacific countries

Considering the anthropogenic activities and its adverse effects on the Earth's environment, the present study provides empirical evidence about the nexus between CO₂ emissions and urbanization over the period of 1982-2014 for East Asian and Pacific countries. After the application of Zivot Andrews (ZA) unit root test, we applied autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach for econometric analysis. The findings showed that urbanization is significantly decreasing CO₂ emissions in China, Japan, Hong Kong, and Mongolia. Moreover, urbanization is increasing CO₂ emissions in Singapore, Macao, and South Korea. This study put some policy implications for Singapore, Macao, and South Korea to consider there urbanization policies. They should promote green energy in their urban areas for sustainable development. Hence, the policy makers should reconsider their trade and urbanization policies in the region to achieve healthy and sustainable environment.

The environmental sustainability effects of financial development and urbanization in Latin American countries

The present study assesses the impact of urbanization, economic growth, energy consumption, and financial development on CO₂ emissions in Latin American countries using a dataset spanning between 1980 and 2017. The current paper employs utilized panel econometric techniques such as CIDF, panel unit test, the Westerlund panel cointegration, fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), and Dumitrescu Hurlin panel causality test to assess these associations. The outcomes from the FMOLS and DOLS estimation reveal that (i) economic growth impacts CO₂ emissions positively, (ii) energy consumption exerts a positive impact on CO₂ emissions, and (iii) urbanization impacts CO₂ emissions positively. Furthermore, the outcomes of the causality test reveal that energy consumption and economic growth can predict CO₂ emissions in Latin countries. The findings highlight the importance of policymakers actively coordinating strategies to address Latin America's severe environmental degradation.

Transport energy consumption and carbon emissions: The role of urbanization towards environment in SAARC region

Most of the existing literature on environmental assessment has concentrated on the linkages between energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, and little attention has been paid to the association between transport energy consumption and CO₂ emissions, which cannot be underestimated. Therefore, the present study contributes to the literature on the sustainable transport sector and urban settlements in South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) countries through an analysis of annual data from 1996 to 2015. Two unit root tests revealed mixed orders of integration for all variables. The Kao cointegration test revealed a strong association among the variables. The panel mean group (PMG) estimator confirmed that urbanization and regulatory quality improve air quality in the SAARC region. Gross domestic product (GDP) and the use of transport energy lower air quality. Considering the role of transport energy use in increasing CO₂ emissions, this study provides some policy implications for the sustainable transport sector in SAARC countries. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2021;17:1286-1292. © 2021 SETAC.

Is industrial pollution detrimental to public health? Evidence from the world's most industrialised countries

BACKGROUND

Industrial pollution is considered to be a detrimental factor for human health. This study, therefore, explores the link between health status and industrial pollution for the top 20 industrialised countries of the world.

METHODS

Crude death rate is used to represent health status and CO2 emissions from manufacturing industries and construction, and nitrous oxide emissions are considered to be indicators of industrial pollution. Using annual data of 60 years (1960-2019), an unbalanced panel data estimation method is followed where (Driscoll, J. C. et al. Rev Econ Stat, 80, 549-560, 1998) standard error technique is employed to deal with heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation and cross-sectional dependence problems.

RESULTS

The research findings indicate that industrial pollution arising from both variables has a detrimental impact on human health and significantly increases the death rate, while an increase in economic growth, number of physicians, urbanisation, sanitation facilities and schooling decreases the death rate.

CONCLUSIONS

Therefore, minimisation of industrial pollution should be the topmost policy agenda in these countries. All the findings are consistent theoretically, and have empirical implications as well. The policy implication of this study is that the mitigation of industrial pollution, considering other pertinent factors, should be addressed appropriately by enunciating effective policies to reduce the human death rate and improve health status in the studied panel countries.

The interactional role of globalization in tourism-CO2 nexus in South Asian countries

This research analyzes the impacts of tourism and globalization on CO₂ emissions in South Asian countries. The annual data was converted into quarterly data of 1995Q1-2016Q4. Unit root test with structural breaks confirmed mixed order of integration for sample countries. ARDL test results showed the existence of EKC between tourism and CO₂ emissions in Sri Lanka and Nepal. Globalization lowers the negative effects of tourism on CO₂ emissions in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka. Globalization can bring innovation in cleaner technologies, which can improve air quality in South Asian countries. Moreover, this research also confirms that GDP and energy use increase CO₂ emissions significantly in South Asia. Therefore, policymakers should consider utilizing renewable energy to improve air quality. Developing countries of South Asia are accelerating their economies by the use of fossil fuels; these countries need to bring renewable energy to the economic sectors for cleaner environment. Apart from the interactional role of globalization in the tourism sector, more attention should also be given to bring strict environmental regulations.

Renewable-nonrenewable energy: institutional quality and environment nexus in South Asian countries

Today energy has become a fundamental need; without energy consumption, no country can survive economically. Along with developed economies, developing countries are struggling more to achieve sustainable economic growth. Therefore, different strategies are being made to develop renewable energy for economic gains. In this line, this study attempts to investigate the impacts of nonrenewable and renewable energy and other socioeconomic factors on CO2 emissions in South Asian countries. The annual data was converted into quarterly data of 1996Q1-2019Q4. The unit root test with structural breaks confirmed mix order of integration and further ARDL approach was applied to know the long- and short-run associations. The long-run association shows that economic growth in Bangladesh, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka is not sustainable. Nepal is achieving economic growth with reducing CO2 emissions. In India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, institutional quality can play an important role to achieve cleaner production. In Pakistan and Bangladesh, population growth is also lowering CO2 emissions. In India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, nonrenewable energy usage is contributing to environmental pollution and renewable energy is lowering it. These countries need to enhance the ratio of renewable energy to their industrial production units.