Income inequality and environmental degradation in Egypt: evidence from dynamic ARDL approach

The effects of carbon inequality on economic growth: new evidence from MENA region

This study emphasizes the impact of carbon inequality on the economic growth of Middle East-North African (MENA) economies from 1995 to 2019. By employing the panel cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lags method (Chudik and Pesaran 2015), we explored the effect of the carbon footprint of top-income classes on economic performance in both the short and long term. The empirical results assume that carbon inequality indicators boost economic growth in the short and long run. In other words, economic growth may be slowed when carbon inequality is reduced. Our study has important implications for climate policy in the MENA region. In this context, relying on a carbon tax can increase business costs and reduce investment incentives leading to a decline in growth. Governments should adopt a more comprehensive approach incorporating other policy instruments such as nudging techniques, financial incentives, and public awareness campaigns. As a result, wealthy people will be encouraged to promote sustainable choices and behaviors that guarantee the progressive transition to low-carbon activities without hurting economic growth.

Symmetric and asymmetric analysis of trade and environment in Pakistan

The study examines how trade influences the environment via the effects of scale, composition, and technique. The study is conducted for Pakistan based on yearly data between 1980 and 2020. The study takes into both symmetric and asymmetric analyses of trade and environment. The symmetric analysis is carried out through the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model. ARDL ignores the nonlinear association between the variables and captures only the linear relationship among variables whereas nonlinear ARDL captures the asymmetry. Results of the symmetric analysis show that scale and composition effect positively contribute to CO₂ emission while technique effect is inversely related to CO₂ release. Openness to trade accelerates the CO₂ discharge. The findings also confirm the presence of the pollution haven proposition. Moreover, natural resource abundance increases emissions while better governance reduces the emission. The asymmetric analysis illustrates that there is a nonlinear association between trade openness and carbon dioxide emission. The rise and decline in trade are found to be positive and insignificant respectively. Moreover, the findings of asymmetric analysis follow the findings of the symmetric analysis in direction. The study suggests that emissions can be reduced by using environment-friendly technology and by improving governance.

Greenhouse gas emission widens income inequality in Africa

Over the past couple of decades, the world has witnessed a rise in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and rising income inequality that threatens human well-being. Addressing these challenges and ensuring sustainable development become a pressing issue for policymakers. This paper investigates the impact of GHG emissions on income inequality in Africa. The study uses a panel data set from 49 countries from 1981 to 2015 and shows that GHG emission widens income inequality. The result is robust for alternative emission indicators. A direct implication is that climate change policy should be designed to narrow income inequality. It is emphasized that mitigation actions should focus on the agriculture sector. Hence, intervention towards energy-smart agriculture, land conservation practices, exploiting the job creation potential, and strengthening value addition in the agricultural sector is decisive. Reforming agriculture reduces emission, narrows income inequality, and realizes sustainable development on the continent.