The key roles of renewable energy and economic growth in disaggregated environmental degradation: Evidence from highly developed, heterogeneous and cross-correlated countries

Ioannis Kostakis and Josep-Maria Arauzo-Carod

Renewable Energy, 2023, vol. 206, issue C, 1315-1325

Abstract: This paper investigates the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis for the G7 group of countries through the ecological footprint and its components (namely built-up land, carbon, cropland, fishing grounds, forest land, and grazing land). Most previous contributions rely on CO2 emissions as a measure of environmental damage, whereas using disaggregated ecological footprint allows us to consider resource consumption and waste generation compared to nature's resource generation and waste absorption. The empirical application is based on a panel data analysis for G7 countries from 1980 to 2018. The results indicate that the EKC hypothesis is confirmed for the ecological footprint overall, but the impact of GDP growth is unequal across its components. Long-term elasticities point to renewable energy generation significantly improving environmental sustainability. Globalization also decreases pollution indicators, while economic complexity seems to contribute to environmental degradation.

Keywords: Disaggregated ecological footprint; Environmental kuznets curve (EKC); Renewable energy; Globalization; Economic complexity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q01 Q20 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (8)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:renene:v:206:y:2023:i:c:p:1315-1325

DOI: 10.1016/j.renene.2023.02.106

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