Do natural resource volatilities and renewable energy contribute to the environment and economic performance? Empirical evidence from E7 economies

From black to green: Quantifying the impact of economic growth, resource management, and green technologies on CO2 emissions

In an exploration of environmental concerns, this groundbreaking research delves into the relationship between GDP per capita, coal rents, forest rents, mineral rents, oil rents, natural gas rents, fossil fuels, renewables, environmental tax and environment-related technologies on CO2 emissions in 30 highly emitting countries from 1995 to 2021 using instrumental-variables regression Two-Stage least squares (IV-2SLS) regression and two-step system generalized method of moments (GMM) estimates. Our results indicate a significant positive relationship between economic growth and CO2 emissions across all quantiles, showcasing an EKC with diminishing marginal effects. Coal rents exhibit a statistically significant negative relationship with emissions, particularly in higher quantiles, and mineral rents show a negative association with CO2 emissions in lower and middle quantiles, reinforcing the idea of resource management in emissions reduction. Fossil fuels exert a considerable adverse impact on emissions, with a rising effect in progressive quantiles. Conversely, renewable energy significantly curtails CO2 emissions, with higher impacts in lower quantiles. Environmental tax also mitigates CO2 emissions. Environment-related technologies play a pivotal role in emission reduction, particularly in lower and middle quantiles, emphasizing the need for innovative solutions. These findings provide valuable insights for policymakers, highlighting the importance of tailoring interventions to different emission levels and leveraging diverse strategies for sustainable development.

Natural resources-environmental technology-ecological footprint nexus: Does natural resources rents diversification make a difference?

Researchers have shown a growing interest in investigating the environmental consequences of energy exploitation and green technologies, particularly in light of the escalating severity of climate change issues in recent times. However, these researches remain incomplete in terms of the various elements and mechanisms of impact. By assessing the novel facet of resource diversification, this study has assessed the direct and indirect effects of this feature on environmental quality. This study used the Moment quantile Regression technique to examine data from 31 OECD nations spanning the time frame of 2009-2019. The findings indicate that resource diversification has an adverse effect on environmental quality, however this effect is not homogeneously observed across all countries. Countries with favorable environmental conditions will encounter a more pronounced influence from the diversification of natural resources extraction. This study further demonstrates that expanding the variety of natural resource exploitation will amplify the negative effects of resource exploitation on environmental quality. Furthermore, the degree of environmental technology exerts a beneficial impact on environmental quality across various degrees of environmental quality. Our findings offer several insightful policies for natural resources management in the context of the ongoing industrial revolution.

Clean cooking technologies, information, and communication technology and the environment

In recent years, researchers and politicians have become concerned about the ever-increasing energy consumption of ICT gadgets. Any effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions should take the ICT industry's carbon emissions into account, given the widespread usage of ICT products across all economic sectors. Employing Driscoll-Kraay Panel Corrected Estimators for E7 economies from 2000 to 2020, we examine the direct impacts of ICT on ecology as well as the indirect implications through connections with the availability of clean fuel and technology for cooking and trade while also adjusting for population and renewable energy. From the empirical findings, it was observed that the two proxies of ICT services (i.e., internet-penetration and mobile-subscriptions) were negatively significantly connected with E7's (Brazil, China, India, Indonesia, Mexico, Russia, and Turkey) carbon emissions. Similarly, access to clean fuel and technologies for cooking and renewable energy decreases emission levels within the E7 economies, while trade openness and population growth increase emission levels within the said economies. Moreover, the method of moment quantile regression used as a robustness check affirms the baseline technique. According to the findings, the E7 economies can safely boost internet usage and associated technologies to lower emissions. They may lessen their negative impact on the ecosystem by increasing the utilization of renewable energy and expanding access to clean fuel and cooking technologies.

The nexus between economic growth, health expenditure, environmental quality: a comparative study for E7 countries

The motivation of this study is to analyze the relationship between economic growth, health expenditures, environmental pollution, gross fixed capital formation and labor force by using annual data of E7 countries for the period 2000 to 2018. The co-integration coefficient of the variables was analyzed using the PMG technique, and the causality relationship between the variables was analyzed using the Emirmahmutoglu F, Kose N. Testing for granger causality in heterogeneous mixed panels. Econ Modell 2011;28:870-6 technique. In the empirical findings, the elasticity coefficient of health expenditures, environmental pollution, gross fixed capital formation and labor force variables is positive and significant. On the other hand, in the results of the causality relationship, it was concluded that economic growth and health expenditures are causal. It is concluded that economic growth is causal to CO₂ emissions. In addition, CO₂ emissions are the cause of health expenditures. As a result of the empirical findings obtained, the implementation of policies that will reduce environmental pollution in the perspective of sustainable growth will also affect health expenditures.

Analyzing the symmetric and asymmetric effects of disaggregate natural resources on the ecological footprint in Saudi Arabia: insights from the dynamic ARDL approach

The present study examines the symmetric and asymmetric effects of natural resource exploitation on the ecological footprint in Saudi Arabia during the period 1981-2018. The analysis is performed for total natural resources and different types of natural resources, including oil, natural gas, and minerals. This research employs the dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag (DYNARDL) simulation approach. In addition to its statistical and computational superiority, the DYNARDL allows assessing the environmental repercussions of shocks that occurred on natural resources in both the short- and long-run. The findings suggest that total, oil, and natural gas rents have a positive symmetric association with the ecological footprint in the long run, while no significant impact is identified for mineral resources. When conducting the asymmetric analysis, the findings reveal that only increases in total, oil, and natural gas rents deteriorate the ecological footprint in the long run, while no effects are confirmed for decreases in natural resource rents. The shock analysis reveals that a 10% increase in total and oil rents leads to environmental degradation by 3% in the long run, while a similar upsurge in natural gas rents induces a 4% deterioration in environmental quality. These findings may help design effective resource-use policies to achieve environmental sustainability in Saudi Arabia.

The role of alternative energy and globalization in decarbonization prospects of the oil-producing African economies

This study assesses the environmental impacts of the energy mix of mainly oil-producing African nations. The economic aspects of decarbonization prospects were also viewed from the perspectives of fossil energy dependence among the countries. More insights on the impacts of energy mix on decarbonization prospects were also provided on a country-specific analysis basis via the application of second-generation econometric techniques in assessing carbon emission levels across the countries between 1990 and 2015. From the results, only renewable resources proved to be a significant decarbonization tool among the understudied oil-rich economies. Moreover, the consequences of the trio of fossil fuel consumption, income growth, and globalization are diametrically opposed to achieving decarbonization as the rise in their usage significantly acts as pollutant-inducing tools. The validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) conjecture was also upheld for the combined analysis of the panel countries. The study thus opined that the reduction in conventional energy dependence will enhance environmental quality. Consequently, given the advantages of the geographical locations of these countries in Africa, concerted strategies for more investment in clean renewable energy sources like solar and wind were suggested to policymakers among other recommendations.

Empirical analysis into the nexus between energy consumption, economic growth, and natural resources in D-8 bloc: evidence from panel causality analysis

THe importance of the impact of natural resources on economic growth is an important issue with a long history in the energy and environment literature. It is seen that the studies conducted in this field are generally shaped by the "resource curse hypothesis," a hypothesis that highlights the trade-off between economic growth and resource abundance in the growth literature. However, the extant literature have presented inconclusive results. This study aims to examine the direction of causality between capital, energy use, energy imports, exchange rate, natural resources, and per capita income in countries that are rich in natural resources and consist of developing countries (D-8). In this context, first of all, the existence of CD test was determined, and then the stationarity of the variables was determined with the CADF unit root test. Then, whether the slope coefficients of the variables were homogeneous or not, it was decided that they were heterogeneous. Finally, the direction of causality between the variables was examined with the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality test applied to heterogeneous panels. The empirical analysis results show a unidirectional causal relationship from capital to GDP per capita and from GDP per capita to energy use. In addition, while a two-way causality relationship was determined between the exchange rate and GDP per capita, no causal relationship was found between energy imports, natural resources, and per capita income. These results have macroeconomic implications and spillover effects on the energy mix of D-8 economies. In addition, no causal relationship was found between natural resources and GDP per capita in this country group and within the scope of the analysis period. Policy recommendations are highlighted in the conclusion.

Green technology, green electricity, and environmental sustainability in Western European countries

For Western European countries, many macroeconomic factors that have influenced environmental quality in several studies have been investigated. In this region, no empirical inquiry has explored the relationship between green technologies, renewable electricity, financial development, economic expansion, and eco-quality. To fill this gap, this inquiry is conducted to estimate the role of green technology innovation and green electricity on ecological balance in Western European countries. This study investigates how carbon dioxide emissions (CO2E) may be influenced by its determinants (economic expansion, renewable energy, environmentally friendly technology) through some robust econometric techniques (second-generation panel unit root, Westerlund cointegration, FMOLS, and DOLS). Empirical findings confirm that renewable electricity and environmentally friendly technological innovations reduce CO2E. However, the economic upsurge is positively correlated with CO2E, suggesting that expanding the market has a deterioration effect on environmental quality. Policymakers in this region should allocate more resources to renewable electricity generation capacities and green technologies in order to minimize environmental damage. Further, the promotion of green and low-carbon energy development will contribute to a new form of global environmental governance.