CO 2 Emissions in Asia–Pacific Region: Do Energy Use, Economic Growth, Financial Development, and International Trade Have Detrimental Effects?

Mohammad Mafizur Rahman and Khosrul Alam
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Mohammad Mafizur Rahman: School of Business, University of Southern Queensland, Toowoomba, QLD 4350, Australia
Khosrul Alam: Department of Economics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Science and Technology University, Gopalganj 8100, Bangladesh

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-16

Abstract: Global warming has become the main concern in the current world; increased CO 2 emissions are believed to be the main reason for this climate change. Therefore, this study investigates the impacts of energy consumption, economic growth, financial development, and international trade on the CO 2 emissions of 17 Asia–Pacific countries. Using unbalanced panel data for 61 years (1960–2020), the Driscoll and Kraay’s standard error and panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) models are employed to observe the effect of the studied variables on the CO 2 emissions. The obtained results reveal that energy consumption, financial development, economic growth, and international trade have adverse effects on the environment of the panel countries by increasing the CO 2 emissions, whereas the square of economic growth reduces it, and results eventually confirm the evidence of the presence of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. Bidirectional causality is found between international trade and CO 2 emissions, and unidirectional causal association from CO 2 emissions to energy consumption and economic growth is also revealed. To maintain sustainable economic growth and to improve environmental quality, an increase in green energy consumption is being recommended.

Keywords: CO 2 emissions; energy consumption; economic growth; financial development; international trade (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 (6)

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