Panel Examination of the impact of economic growth on Carbon Emissions—Case of 15 emerging and advanced economies

Abstract

In today's world, there are numerous urgent global challenges that require our attention, prominent among those issues is the need to address climate change. Due to this, governments around the world have united in support of initiatives such as the Sustainable Development Goals, which seek to achieve a harmonious balance between development and the protection of the environment. The pivotal roles that environmental conservation measures, technical progress, and contemporary industrial strategies play are essential for the economic expansion of developing and industrialized countries in lowering CO₂ emissions. Therefore, this study suggests that expanding green growth through the consumption of renewable energy is an effective strategy to mitigate CO₂ emissions and achieve sustainable development, thus improving the contribution to environmental quality. Consequently, this research explores the long-term relationship between per capita CO₂ emissions and economic development in 15 industrialized and developing countries with data spanning from 1991 to 2019. The present study employs PMG-ARDL estimation technique to rigorously examine the research objectives.  The result shows that in the long run, both FDI and quadratic GDP significantly and negatively influence carbon emissions in industrialized nations. However, the other elements have a substantial positive and negative impact on climate change. The result also showed that increasing FDI reduces carbon emissions in industrialized countries. However, the opposite is true for emerging ones. Additionally, the findings of this article indicate that there is a considerable positive correlation between the use of fossil fuels and the progression of climate change in both developed and developing nations. Therefore, the findings of this research provide credence and legitimacy to the notion of the Kuznets curve when viewed and compared in the context of both emerging and developed economies.