Effects of urbanization and nonrenewable energy on carbon emission in Africa

Trade openness, human capital, natural resource, and carbon emission nexus: a CS-ARDL assessment for Central Asian economies

There is a call for global efforts to preserve the ecological systems that can sustain economies and people's lives. However, carbon emission (CEM) threatens the sustainability of humanity and ecological systems. This analysis looked into the influence of energy use (ERU), human capital (HCI), trade openness (TOP), natural resource (NRR), population, and economic growth (ENG) on CEM. The paper gathered panel data from the Central Asia region from 1990 to 2020. The CS-ARDL was applied to establish the long-term interaction among the indicators. The paper's findings indicated the presence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) in the Central Asia regions. Also, the empirical evidence highlighted that energy use, natural resources, and trade openness cause higher levels of CEM. However, the research verified that CEM can be improved through human capital and urban population growth. The study also found that HCI moderates the interaction between NRR and CEM. The causality assessment indicated a one-way interplay between ENG, ERU, NRR, and CEM. The study proposes that to support ecological stability in these regions, policy-makers should concentrate on developing human capital, investing in renewable energy sources, and utilizing contemporary technologies to harness natural resources in the economies of Central Asia.

Examining the Effects of Renewable Energy and Economic Growth on Carbon Emission in Canada: Evidence from the Nonlinear ARDL Approaches

Increasing industrial activities trigger the intense use of fossil fuels and increase the number of carbon emissions in the atmosphere. Countries with a high share in current carbon emissions need to expand their use of renewable energy sources. Canada is an important energy producer and consumer globally. In this regard, its decisions are important for the future development of global emissions. This study examines the asymmetric effects of economic growth, renewable energy, and non-renewable energy consumption on carbon emissions in Canada from 1965 to 2017. In the first stage of the analysis, unit root testing was performed for the variables. For this, Lee-Strazicich (2003), ADF and PP unit root tests were used. The nonlinear ARDL method was used to analyze the relationship between variables. and Measures: In order to analyze the relationship between the variables in the established model, renewable energy consumption (%), non-renewable energy consumption (%), and carbon emissions (per capita-Mt). In addition, the economic growth (constant price 2010- US$) parameter was added to the model as a control variable. The findings support that energy consumption, economic growth, and renewable energy have an asymmetric effect on carbon emissions in the long run. The positive shock in renewable energy reduces carbon emissions, and a unit increase in renewable energy reduces carbon emissions by 1.29%. Besides, the negative shock in economic growth greatly deteriorates the quality of the environment; that is, a 1% reduction in economic growth causes emissions to increase by 0.74% in the long run. On the other hand, positive shocks in energy consumption have a positive and significant effect on carbon emissions. A 1% increase in energy consumption causes 1.69% carbon emissions. There are important policy implications for Canada to eliminate carbon emissions, increase the share of renewable energy sources and achieve its economic growth targets. In addition, Canada needs to reduce its consumption of non-renewable energy (such as gasoline coal, diesel, and natural gas).

Exploring the optimal threshold of FDI inflows for carbon-neutral growth in Africa

This study investigates the relationship between foreign direct investment (FDI) and CO2 emissions in Africa, primarily emphasizing carbon-neutral growth. Employing advanced econometric methods like the Generalized Method of Moments (GMM), fixed effect, and Two-Stage Least Squares (2SLS), we identify critical threshold values for key variables, including economic growth, trade openness, human capital, financial development, inflation, and population growth. Our findings indicate that GDP significantly influences the FDI-CO2 emissions relationship as economies expand, shifting from negative to positive, potentially leading to increased carbon emissions. Higher trade-to-GDP ratios are associated with reduced CO2 emissions due to cleaner technologies and greener production practices. Additionally, financial development plays a pivotal role, enabling investment in sustainable technologies. Nations with a more skilled workforce are more likely to adopt sustainable practices. The influence of population growth on CO2 emissions is complex, balancing increased demand with investments in clean technologies. The study recommends that African policymakers prioritize FDI aligned with carbon-neutral growth by promoting sustainability, investing in human capital, and carefully balancing population growth with sustainability.

Will China-Africa trade increase Africa's carbon emissions?

In order to explore whether China-Africa exchange will influence on the African environment. This paper selects four paths of China-Africa exchanges and explores the impact of each path on the African environment under the influence of different factors. We found that construction income and Africa's exports to China will increase Africa's carbon emissions. Foreign direct investment and China's exports to Africa will lead to a reduction in carbon emissions in Africa. The resource moderation will reduce the significance of the environmental impact of each path on Africa. Based on the above conclusions, several suggestions are made on the policies and actual operations in the path of China-Africa exchanges.

The mediating role of renewable energy, sectoral output and economic growth on greenhouse gas emissions: African regional perspective

Global greenhouse gas emissions are increasing when they should be progressively reducing, given worldwide concerted emissions mitigation efforts and protocols. To effectively tackle emissions to foster a sustainable climate, the situation's complexity needs a sector- and region-specific approach, not a one-stop analysis. We must first understand where the emissions originate-which sectors contribute the most to them. This study employs a panel multiregional framework with advanced econometric techniques accounting for cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneous slope coefficients to analyse GHG emissions (CO2 and CH4), sectoral output, economic growth and renewable energy dynamics across African regions from 2010 to 2019. The empirical findings are as follows: First, regional impacts of the economic sectors vary substantially, reflecting technological and socioeconomic differences leading to heterogeneous environmental patterns in the short and long term. Second, the estimated EKC turning points are uniformly lower, indicating slower environmental impact growth with sectoral development in African regions. Third, trade and urbanization are critical drivers of emissions in most regions and economic sectors, with a more pervasive impact on CO2 emissions than CH4 emissions. Finally, sectoral output imposes differential indirect CO2 and CH4 emissions effects via renewable energy, with East African manufacturing exhibiting the most significant emissions-reduction impact. Disaggregated, regional, and sectoral-specific strategies are recommended for designing green development pathways policies.

Towards environmental degradation mitigation: The role of regulatory quality, technological innovation and government effectiveness in the CEMAC countries

The study explores the interaction between regulatory quality, economic growth, technological innovation, energy consumption, government spending on research and development, and environmental degradation (EVD) in the Economic and Monetary Community of Central Africa (CEMAC) region. The study applied the econometric approach CS-ARDL to estimate the short and long-term interaction between the regressors and the explanatory variable. The study period covers from 1990 to 2020. To summarize the findings of this research, (1) the study discovered a positive relationship between energy consumption, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and environmental degradation. (2) Economic growth, government spending on research and development, and technological innovation, on the other hand, extensively dissipates EVD in the CEMAC economies. (3) The causality analysis espoused a bidirectional connection between energy consumption, technological innovation, and EVD. (4) Lastly, a unidirectional interplay exists between economic growth, government effectiveness, regulatory quality, and EVD. This study also serves as a reference point for policymakers and governmental institutions to invest in cleaner technologies and increase government research and development spending to mitigate environmental degradation in these areas.

Exploring the nexus link of environmental technology innovation, urbanization, financial development, and energy consumption on environmental pollution: Evidence from 27 emerging economies

The core intent of the present study seeks to probe the connection linking environmental technology innovation (ENVTI), economic growth (ECG), financial development (FID), trade openness (TROP), urbanization (URB) and energy consumption (ENC) on environmental pollution (ENVP) by employing 27 chosen African economies panel data. These variables merit critical attention when implementing decarbonization policies and significantly safeguarding a country's well-being in pursuit of massive industrialization and economic expansion. The fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS), the dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS), and the pooled mean group (PMG) estimation techniques were utilized to analyze the series from 2000 through 2020. This research used the FMOLS for long-run connections interaction of the variables, while the DOLS and PMG were used for robustness checks. Further, the Pedroni, Kao, and Westerlund cointegration approaches were employed to determine cointegration in the series. Also, the cross-sectional Im, Pesaran, and Shin (CIPS) and the cross-sectional augmented Dickey-Fuller (CADF) unit root testing approaches were utilized to check the stationarity of the series. Again, the stochastic impact on regression, population, affluence, and technology (STIRPAT) model, and the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) was used as the theoretical framework supporting this research. The findings of the long-run analysis give credence to the EKC assumption demonstrating that a significant long-term ECG will support the decrease in ENVP when nations experience increases in the level of income. Further, this study found that ENVTI and URB are conducive to reducing ENVP in the long run. The current research finding is sensitive to the respective nations' income levels. This empirical research furnishes prudent policies tailored for the respective countries' pursuit of ECG and reducing ENVP.

Green aid, aid fragmentation and carbon emissions

The existing studies that examined the green aid effectiveness in reducing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions found mixed results; however, neither of these studies considered the role of aid fragmentation in the effectiveness of green aid flows. By using the dynamic panel generalized method of moments (GMM) methodology to panel data of 92 countries covering the period between 2002 and 2018, this study examines the impact of green aid fragmentation on the effectiveness of green aid flows in reducing CO2 emissions. Using different fragmentation measures, this paper finds that green aid fragmentation is detrimental to the effectiveness of green aid flows in reducing CO2 emissions per capita. The findings also highlight that the damaging impact of green aid fragmentation is lower in countries with stronger institutions. This paper highlights the need for better coordination of the green aid flows by having less fragmented green aid flows.

An empirical investigation of the effects of poverty and urbanization on environmental degradation: the case of sub-Saharan Africa

This study empirically investigates the effects of poverty and urbanization on environmental degradation for a sample of 43 sub-Saharan African (SSA) economies from 1995 to 2018. The major contribution of the study lies in examining the existence of non-linear effects of poverty and urbanization on environmental degradation. We considered a set of institutional and demographic factors to explain the dynamics among poverty, urbanization, and environmental degradation. Findings suggest that an increase in the poverty gap significantly contributes towards intensifying environmental degradation in SSA countries. Results also show the existence of a non-linear relationship between poverty and environmental degradation. The findings purpose several crucial policy recommendations which necessitate the participation of different stakeholders such as government, institutions, researchers, non-profit organizations and citizens for the effective implementations of environment-friendly policies. A battery of robustness tests confirms the validity of the main findings of the study.

The driving influence of multidimensional urbanization on green total factor productivity in China: evidence from spatiotemporal analysis

China is experiencing a swift transformation from a rural to an urban society. This societal transition is the result of a country's ambition toward economic development. Rapid urbanization impacts on human wellbeing, environment, and infrastructure. Unlike many cases of urban extension, China's urbanization has led to increase in environmental issues, rather than to contain, and posed serious challenges to achieve sustainable development. To date, nevertheless, there is a little empirical enquiry on the spatiotemporal effects of multidimensional urbanization on green total factor productivity. Taking this into account, this article constructs a spatial panel data model based on 283 Chinese cities during 2006-2019. The results showed that the three types of urbanization (i.e., population, land, and economic) have positive effect on green total factor productivity (GTFP). Population urbanization has indirect positive effect on GTFP. Local land urbanization inhibits while surrounding land urbanization promotes GTFP. Economic urbanization has positive direct effect on GTFP. Considering regional heterogeneity, population and economic urbanization have positive effect on GTFP in eastern region. In central region, land urbanization significantly promotes GTFP, while economic urbanization has significant negative effect on GTFP. In the western region, the three types of urbanization are not conducive to GTFP. Considering sized heterogeneity, population and economic types of urbanization have significant negative effect on GTFP in small- and medium-sized cities. In large cities, the three types of urbanization have significant positive effects on GTFP. Considering temporal heterogeneity, the three types of urbanization significantly promote GTFP before 2014, but economic urbanization deteriorates GTFP after 2014. Our results recommend loosening Hukou system, improving land use efficiency, and developing technology and knowledge-intensive industries.

Unleashing the dynamic and nonlinear relationship among new-type urbanization, foreign direct investment, and inclusive green growth in China: an environmental sustainability perspective

As an important way for China to integrate into the international circulation, foreign direct investment (FDI) can not only increase China's capital accumulation but also directly affect inclusive green growth by promoting the diffusion and transfer of green technologies and activating the domestic market. Based on China's provincial panel data from 2007 to 2019, this paper discusses the following issues: first, Global Malmquist-Luenberger (GML) productivity index is used to measure and analyze the current situation of inclusive green growth in 30 provinces of China; second, we set a fixed effect panel model to test the relationship between FDI and inclusive green growth in China. Third, based on PVAR (panel vector autoregressive) model, the dynamic impacts of FDI and new urbanization on inclusive green growth are tested. Finally, a regression model with the new urbanization level as the threshold variable is constructed to test the threshold effect of FDI on China's green inclusive growth. Accordingly, each region needs to formulate FDI introduction policies according to the local new urbanization level, so as to give full play to the positive role of FDI in inclusive green growth.

On energy transition-led sustainable environment in COP26 era: policy implications from tourism, transportation services, and technological innovations for Gulf countries

The present generation is witnessing the most devastating effects of global warming far beyond what was evident in the pre-industrial era. To forestall further ecosystem destruction, nations are working assiduously toward achieving sustainable global environment in decades to come, specifically by 2050. This ambitious goal prompts the convergence of countries in the last climate conference tagged COP26 which provides the roadmap to global sustainability. The resolutions of COP26 motivate the present study to assess the energy transition-led sustainable environment in Gulf countries, considering tourism, transport services, and technological innovation. The study employs annual data from 2005 to 2019 by relying on advanced second-generation estimators comprising cross-sectional ARDL (CS-ARDL), common correlated effects mean group (CCEMG), and augmented mean group (AMG). The study conducts robustness checks using quantile regression (QR) and quantile plots (QP). The results reveal that nonrenewable energy, tourism, and transport services hinder sustainable environment due to their inducing impacts on carbon emissions. Renewable energy and technological innovations promote sustainable environment by moderating the surge in carbon emissions. The QR results reveal that the regressors' effects are not one-off. For instance, the moderating effects of renewable energy correspond to increasing levels of the quantiles. In contrast, nonrenewable energy posits the opposite, thus confirming the energy transition-led sustainable environment hypothesis in the Gulf countries. Policy implications that drive sustainable environment are suggested based on the findings.

The Carbon Emission Characteristics and Reduction Potential in Developing Areas: Case Study from Anhui Province, China

Global warming and world-wide climate change caused by increasing carbon emissions have attracted a widespread public attention, while anthropogenic activities account for most of these problems generated in the social economy. In order to comprehensively measure the levels of carbon emissions and carbon sinks in Anhui Province, the study adopted some specific carbon accounting methods to analyze and explore datasets from the following suggested five carbon emission sources of energy consumption, food consumption, cultivated land, ruminants and waste, and three carbon sink sources of forest, grassland and crops to compile the carbon emission inventory in Anhui Province. Based on the compiled carbon emission inventory, carbon emissions and carbon sink capacity were calculated from 2000 to 2019 in Anhui Province, China. Combined with ridge regression and scenario analysis, the STIRPAT model was used to evaluate and predict the regional carbon emission from 2020 to 2040 to explore the provincial low-carbon development pathways, and carbon emissions of various industrial sectors were systematically compared and analyzed. Results showed that carbon emissions increased rapidly from 2000 to 2019 and regional energy consumption was the primary source of carbon emissions in Anhui Province. There were significant differences found in the increasing carbon emissions among various industries. The consumption proportion of coal in the provincial energy consumption continued to decline, while the consumption of oil and electricity proceeded to increase. Furthermore, there were significant differences among different urban and rural energy structures, and the carbon emissions from waste incineration were increasing. Additionally, there is an inverted "U"-shape curve of correlation between carbon emission and economic development in line with the environmental Kuznets curve, whereas it indicated a "positive U"-shaped curve of correlation between carbon emission and urbanization rate. The local government should strengthen environmental governance, actively promote industrial transformation, and increase the proportion of clean energy in the energy production and consumption structures in Anhui Province. These also suggested a great potential of emission reduction with carbon sink in Anhui Province.

Exploring the association between resource dependence and haze pollution in China: the mediating effect of green technology innovation

Haze pollution has been addressed in extensive studies over the last few years. However, the relationship between resource dependence and haze pollution has not been fully investigated. This study focuses on addressing this problem while considering the mediating role of green technology innovation. A panel dataset of 263 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2018 is used for the analysis. The results show the following: (1) the two-way fixed-effect model reveals that resource dependence contributes significantly to haze pollution, and this finding remains robust across a series of robustness tests. (2) A mediation analysis indicates that resource dependence is unfavorable for green technology innovation, indirectly affecting the alleviation of haze pollution. (3) The results of panel threshold regression suggest that green technology innovation promotes haze reduction in the weak and medium resource dependence stages, whereas this optimization effect disappears in the strong resource dependence stage due to rebound effects. (4) The results of regional heterogeneity demonstrate that the positive effects of resource dependence on haze pollution exist in eastern and western China but not in central China. Based on these results, policy implications are given to reduce haze pollution.

The impact of climate aid on carbon emissions reduction and the role of renewable energy: evidence from the Belt and Road countries

Full mobilization and effective use of climate aid is of great importance for the low carbon transition of Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. This study utilizes the two-step system generalized method of moments model to evaluate the effects of climate aid on carbon emissions reduction and the impact mechanism through energy structure optimization. The panel data of 93 Belt and Road countries from 2000 to 2018 were used for empirical analysis. Results show that climate aid has a significant reduction effect on the carbon emissions intensity of BRI countries, and the dominant component of climate aid, i.e., mitigation aid, corresponds to better carbon emissions reduction benefits than adaptation aid. The impact mechanism demonstrates that the climate aid has dual carbon emissions reduction effects in BRI countries which have an intermediate energy structure. It indicates that climate aid not only directly reduces carbon emissions by increasing carbon reduction resources, but also indirectly reduces carbon emissions by promoting renewable energy and optimizing the energy structure. The results evidence the theory of environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and channels of climate aid effects. Practical implications from the current study include that more climate finance support should be provided to BRI countries by developed countries, the effectiveness of climate aid should be improved by investing in projects with significant carbon reduction like renewable energy, data monitoring and performance evaluation of climate aid should be strengthened, and China should take its role and make more contributions to the low carbon transition especially energy transition of BRI countries.

Does cooperation stimulate firms' eco-innovation? Firm-level evidence from China

Firms' collaborative activities have created increasing opportunities for eco-innovation in modern society. Based on unbalanced panel data from the Chinese National Innovation Survey between 2011 and 2015, this paper explored the influences of different modes of cooperation, i.e., vertical cooperation, horizontal cooperation, and mixed cooperation, on the eco-innovation of Chinese manufacturing firms. The results indicated that three types of cooperation all had positive and statistically significant effects on the firms' eco-innovation, and mixed cooperation had promoted eco-innovation more dramatically. The extent of such impacts may vary depending on the heterogeneity of the characteristic of enterprises. We also verified that knowledge spillovers from cooperative partners have played a mediating role between cooperation and eco-innovation. Our results suggest the potential benefits of diversified collaborative activities and appropriate intellectual property protection for firms' eco-innovation in China.