Identifying the Key Driving Factors of Carbon Emissions in ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ Countries

Lili Sun, Hang Yu, Qiang Liu, Yanzun Li, Lintao Li, Hua Dong and Caspar Daniel Adenutsi
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Lili Sun: CNOOC Research Institute, Beijing 100028, China
Hang Yu: CNOOC Research Institute, Beijing 100028, China
Qiang Liu: CNOOC Research Institute, Beijing 100028, China
Yanzun Li: CNOOC Research Institute, Beijing 100028, China
Lintao Li: CNOOC Research Institute, Beijing 100028, China
Hua Dong: CNPC Economic & Technology Research Institute, Beijing 100724, China
Caspar Daniel Adenutsi: Department of Petroleum Engineering, Faculty of Civil and Geo-Engineering, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi 00233, Ghana

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 15, 1-16

Abstract: The ‘Belt and Road Initiative’ (B&R) countries play a key role in mitigating global carbon emissions, but their driving factors behind carbon emissions remain unclear. This paper aimed to identify the key driving factors (KDFs) of carbon emissions in the B&R countries based on the extended STIRPAT (stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology) model. The empirical results showed that: (1) Population and GDP per capita were the KDFs that promoted carbon emission, while energy intensity improvement and renewable energy were the KDFs that inhibited carbon emissions. Urbanization, another KDF, had a dual impact across countries. (2) The KDFs varied across the B&R countries. For the high-income group (HI), population had the greatest impact. It was identified as the KDF promoting carbon emission, while for the other three income groups, GDP per capita, as the dominant factor, was identified as the KDF promoting carbon emission. (3) Moreover, two interesting trends were found, namely, the higher the income, the greater the impact of energy intensity while the lower the impact of GDP per capita. These results could provide guidance for carbon reduction in the B&R countries.

Keywords: carbon emissions; KDFs; STIRPAT model; B&R countries (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (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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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9104-:d:871085

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