Impact of Economic Affluence on CO 2 Emissions in CEE Countries

Agnieszka Majewska and Urszula Gierałtowska
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Agnieszka Majewska: Department of Sustainable Finance and Capital Markets, Institute of Economics and Finance, University of Szczecin, 71-101 Szczecin, Poland
Urszula Gierałtowska: Department of Sustainable Finance and Capital Markets, Institute of Economics and Finance, University of Szczecin, 71-101 Szczecin, Poland

Energies, 2022, vol. 15, issue 1, 1-21

Abstract: There is huge evidence for a relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. One of the causes of environmental degradation is CO 2 emission which is added to the atmosphere through human activities and excessive industrialization. The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between CO 2 emissions and measures of wealth in countries of Central and Eastern Europe between 2000 and 2019. The paper extends the research on economic affluence by taking into consideration two measures of economic growth, in addition to GDP, the HDI index is included. The basis for the investigation is the EKC concept. All analyses are based on econometric models with GDP and the HDI index as independent variables. The results are not conclusive and there is no one model which best describes the relationship between CO 2 emissions and economic growth. Verification of the models indicates the better fit of models with the HDI index as the measure of affluence. Moreover, the study confirms that the key factors affecting CO 2 emissions are energy consumption per capita which leads to an increase in CO 2 emissions, and renewable energy consumption which reduces CO 2 emissions. Therefore, technological changes and an increase in human awareness of global sustainability are required.

Keywords: CO 2 emission; GDP; HDI index; the EKC; energy consumption; urbanization; renewable energy consumption (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: Q Q0 Q4 Q40 Q41 Q42 Q43 Q47 Q48 Q49 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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