Our work investigated the relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and economic development in 10 different countries from 2010 to 2019, using a panel data technique. The growth of the economy in different countries involves greater use of energy, which leads to more CO2 emissions; hence pollution is intimately related to the growth of the economy and development. By applying the ECM analysis, we confirmed the long-run correlation between Gross Domestic Product and the emissions of CO2 is positive, due to the sluggish adoption of new low-carbon policies, which makes it difficult to attain the same output level with lower carbon dioxide emissions in the long run. The short-run relationship between GDP and the emissions of CO2 is negative, while coherent energy policies are due to help in accomplishing a quick development through more intensive energy consumption, yet our findings show that growth slows as carbon dioxide emissions rise.
Cite this paper
Niyonzima, P. , Yao, X. and Ofori, E. K. (2022). How Do Economic Growth and the Emissions of Carbon Dioxide Relate?. Open Access Library Journal, 9, e8516. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.4236/oalib.1108516.
Gorus, M.S. and Aydin, M. (2019) The Relationship between Energy Consumption, Economic Growth, and CO2 Emission in MENA Countries: Causality Analysis in the Frequency Domain. Energy, 168, 815-822.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2018.11.139
Saboori, B., Sulaiman, J. and Mohd, S. (2012) Economic Growth and CO2 Emissions in Malaysia: A Cointegration Analysis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Energy Policy, 51, 184-191. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.08.065
Choudhary, B.K., Tripathi, A.K. and Rai, J. (2019) Can ‘Poor’ Cities Breathe: Responses to Climate Change in Low-Income Countries. Urban Climate, 27, 403-411.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2019.01.001
Niyonteze, J.D.D., Zou, F., Asemota, G.N.O., et al. (2020) Key Technology Development Needs and Applicability Analysis of Renewable Energy Hybrid Technologies in Off-Grid Areas for the Rwanda Power Sector. Heliyon, 6, e03300.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e03300
El-Mahallawy, F. and Habik, S.E.D. (2002) Chapter 1—Combustion Fundamentals. In: El-Mahallawy, F. and Habik, S.E.D., Eds., Fundamentals and Technology of Combustion, Elsevier, Oxford, 1-75.
https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-008044106-1/50003-6
El Morabet, R. (2019) Effects of Outdoor Air Pollution on Human Health. In: Nriagu, J., Ed., Encyclopedia of Environmental Health (Second Edition), Elsevier, Oxford, 278-286. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-409548-9.11509-X
IPCC (2018) Global Warming of 1.5°C. An IPCC Special Report on the Impacts of Global Warming of 1.5°C above Pre-Industrial Levels and Related Global Greenhouse Gas Emission Pathways, in the Context of Strengthening the Global Response to the Threat of Climate Change, Sustainable Development, and Efforts to Eradicate Poverty.
Codal, K.S., Ari, I. and Codal, A. (2021) Multidimensional Perspective for Performance Assessment on Climate Change Actions of G20 Countries. Environmental Development, 39, Article ID: 100639. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envdev.2021.100639
Denning, A.S. (2018) Combustion to Concentration to Warming: What Do Climate Targets Mean for Emissions? Climate Change and the Global Carbon Cycle. In: Dellasala, D.A. and Goldstein, M.I., Eds., Encyclopedia of the Anthropocene, Elsevier, Oxford, 443-452. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-809665-9.09743-3
Lau, L.C., Lee, K.T. and Mohamed, A.R. (2012) Global Warming Mitigation and Renewable Energy Policy Development from the Kyoto Protocol to the Copenhagen Accord—A Comment. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 16, 5280-5284.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2012.04.006
Kapoor, V. and Malviya, M. (2021) Chapter 15—Assessment of Mechanisms and Instruments of Climate Finance: A Global Perspective. In: Singh, P., Verma, P., Perrotti, D., et al., Eds., Environmental Sustainability and Economy, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 297-324. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-12-822188-4.00004-X
Ahmed, M.M. and Shimada, K. (2019) The Effect of Renewable Energy Consumption on Sustainable Economic Development: Evidence from Emerging and Developing Economies. Energies, 12, Article No. 2954.
https://doi.org/10.3390/en12152954
Shakya, S., Li, B. and Etienne, X. (2022) Shale Revolution, Oil and Gas Prices, and Drilling Activities in the United States. Energy Economics, 108, Article ID: 105877.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.105877
Xu, Q., Fu, B. and Wang, B. (2022) The Effects of Oil Price Uncertainty on China’s Economy. Energy Economics, 107, Article ID: 105840.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2022.105840
Mendonça, A.K.D.S., de Andrade Conradi Barni, G., Moro, M.F., et al. (2020) Hierarchical Modeling of the 50 Largest Economies to Verify the Impact of GDP, Population and Renewable Energy Generation in CO2 Emissions. Sustainable Production and Consumption, 22, 58-67. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.spc.2020.02.001
Kumar, C.R. and Majid, M.A. (2020) Renewable Energy for Sustainable Development in India: Current Status, Future Prospects, Challenges, Employment, and Investment Opportunities. Energy, Sustainability and Society, 10, Article No. 2.
https://doi.org/10.1186/s13705-019-0232-1
Arouri, M.E.H., Ben Youssef, A., M’Henni, H., et al. (2012) Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and CO2 Emissions in Middle East and North African Countries. Energy Policy, 45, 342-349. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2012.02.042
Dogan, E. (2015) The Relationship between Economic Growth and Electricity Consumption from Renewable and Non-Renewable Sources: A Study of Turkey. Renewable & Sustainable Energy Reviews, 52, 534-546.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2015.07.130
Rana, I.A., Jamshed, A., Younas, Z.I., et al. (2020) Characterizing Flood Risk Perception in Urban Communities of Pakistan. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction, 46, Article ID: 101624. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2020.101624
Mora, C., Frazier, A.G., Longman, R.J., et al. (2013) The Projected Timing of Climate Departure from Recent Variability. Nature, 502, 183-187.
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature12540
Adenle, A.A. (2020) Assessment of Solar Energy Technologies in Africa-Opportunities and Challenges in Meeting the 2030 Agenda and Sustainable Development Goals. Energy Policy, 137, Article ID: 111180. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2019.111180
Haberl, H., Wiedenhofer, D., Virág, D., et al. (2020) A Systematic Review of the Evidence on Decoupling of GDP, Resource Use and GHG Emissions, Part II: Synthesizing the Insights. Environmental Research Letters, 15, Article ID: 065003.
https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/ab842a
Sun, J. and Peng, F. (2011) Empirical Analysis on Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in Yangtze River Delta—An Estimation Based on Cointegration. Energy Procedia, 5, 520-524. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egypro.2011.03.090
Lu, F.B., Li, Y., Wang, S.H., et al. (2008) Information Spillovers among International Crude Oil Markets—An Empirical Analysis Based on CCF Method and ECM. Systems Engineering—Theory & Practice, 28, 25-34.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S1874-8651(09)60015-6
Grossman, G.M. and Krueger, A.B. (1995) Economic Growth and the Environment. The Quarterly Journal of Economics, 110, 353-377. https://doi.org/10.2307/2118443
Selden, T.M. and Song, D. (1994) Environmental Quality and Development: Is There a Kuznets Curve for Air Pollution Emissions? Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 27, 147-162. https://doi.org/10.1006/jeem.1994.1031
Coondoo, D. and Dinda, S. (2002) Causality between Income and Emission: A Country Group-Specific Econometric Analysis. Ecological Economics, 40, 351-367.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0921-8009(01)00280-4
Al-mulali, U. (2012) Factors Affecting CO2 Emission in the Middle East: A Panel Data Analysis. Energy, 44, 564-569. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2012.05.045
Akbostanci, E., Türüt-Asik, S. and Tunç, G.I. (2009) The Relationship between Income and Environment in Turkey: Is There an Environmental Kuznets Curve? Energy Policy, 37, 861-867. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2008.09.088
Fodha, M. and Zaghdoud, O. (2010) Economic Growth and Pollutant Emissions in Tunisia: An Empirical Analysis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve. Energy Policy, 38, 1150-1156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2009.11.002
Nie, Y., Li, Q., Wang, E., et al. (2019) Study of the Nonlinear Relations between Economic Growth and Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the Eastern, Central and Western Regions of China. Journal of Cleaner Production, 219, 713-722.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.01.164
Pao, H.T. and Tsai, C.M. (2011) Modeling and Forecasting the CO2 Emissions, Energy Consumption, and Economic Growth in Brazil. Energy, 36, 2450-2458.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.01.032
Farhani, S., Chaibi, A. and Rault, C. (2014) CO2 Emissions, Output, Energy Consumption, and Trade in Tunisia. Economic Modelling, 38, 426-434.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2014.01.025
Soytas, U. and Sari, R. (2009) Energy Consumption, Economic Growth, and Carbon Emissions: Challenges Faced by an EU Candidate Member. Ecological Economics, 68, 1667-1675. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2007.06.014
Ahmed, K. and Long, W. (2012) Environmental Kuznets Curve and Pakistan: An Empirical Analysis. Procedia Economics and Finance, 1, 4-13.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S2212-5671(12)00003-2
Chang, C.C. (2010) A Multivariate Causality Test of Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in China. Applied Energy, 87, 3533-3537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2010.05.004
Raza, S.A., Shah, N. and Sharif, A. (2019) Time Frequency Relationship between Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and Environmental Degradation in the United States: Evidence from Transportation Sector. Energy, 173, 706-720.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.01.077
Nasreen, S., Mbarek, M.B. and Atiq-ur-Rehman, M. (2020) Long-Run Causal Relationship between Economic Growth, Transport Energy Consumption and Environmental Quality in Asian Countries: Evidence from Heterogeneous Panel Methods. Energy, 192, Article ID: 116628.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.116628
Yang, H., Shahzadi, I. and Hussain, M. (2021) USA Carbon Neutrality Target: Evaluating the Role of Environmentally Adjusted Multifactor Productivity Growth in Limiting Carbon Emissions. Journal of Environmental Management, 298, Article ID: 113385. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113385
Saidi, K. and Hammami, S. (2015) The Impact of CO2 Emissions and Economic Growth on Energy Consumption in 58 Countries. Energy Reports, 1, 62-70.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2015.01.003
Levin, A., Lin, C.F. and James Chu, C.S. (2002) Unit Root Tests in Panel Data: Asymptotic and Finite-Sample Properties. Journal of Econometrics, 108, 1-24.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(01)00098-7
Im, K.S., Pesaran, M.H. and Shin, Y. (2003) Testing for Unit Roots in Heterogeneous Panels. Journal of Econometrics, 115, 53-74.
https://doi.org/10.1016/S0304-4076(03)00092-7
Maddala, G.S. and Wu, S. (1999) A Comparative Study of Unit Root Tests with Panel Data and a New Simple Test. Oxford Bulletin of Economics and Statistics, 61, 631-652. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-0084.0610s1631