Renewable Energy Solution to Carbon Emissions: BRICS Countries in the Grip of Globalization and Economic Growth

Eren Erkılıç (), Cengiz Gazeloğlu and Ece Özgören Ünlü
Additional contact information
Eren Erkılıç: Department of Tourism Management, Ardeşen Tourism Faculty, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan University, Rize 53400, Türkiye
Cengiz Gazeloğlu: Department of Statistics, Engineering and Natural Sciences, Süleyman Demirel University, Isparta 32000, Türkiye
Ece Özgören Ünlü: Department of Statistics, Engineering and Natural Sciences, Süleyman Demirel University, Isparta 32000, Türkiye

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 9, 1-24

Abstract: The BRICS countries (Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa) are responsible for forty-two per cent of global carbon emissions. These rapidly industrializing and economically growing countries are dependent on fossil fuels, which can lead to increased emissions. This research analyses the impact of economic growth, globalization, and renewable energy (RE) use on CO 2 using a unique dataset of 155 observations and a practical model. Using panel data for 1990–2020, this study examines the relationships between CO 2 emissions, GDP, RE use, and the KOF Globalization Index based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) theory. Cointegration, unit root test, panel data analysis, and FGLS regression methods were used in this study. The results show that economic growth and globalization increase CO 2 , while RE is insufficient to reduce these effects. Moreover, it is determined that globalization has an increasing effect on CO 2 . This study makes a prominent contribution to the literature by examining the combined effects of globalization and economic growth on environmental sustainability. The findings emphasize the need for sustainable energy policies in BRICS countries.

Keywords: KOF globalization index; gross domestic product; renewable energy; BRICS; panel data; regression models (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/9/4117/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/17/9/4117/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:17:y:2025:i:9:p:4117-:d:1648182

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().