At present, concerns regarding climate change are common, especially in countries more vulnerable to environmental degradation. Greenhouse gases, including carbon emissions, are mainly considered to deteriorate the environment. Despite substantial agreement on many environmental issues, there are also important differences between regions and countries, and often, within nations. Accordingly, this study aims to examine the environmental performance of South and East Asian countries and its association with trade and other economic variables. Panel regression techniques and robust checks are used to examine the data, which covers 15 years from 2002 to 2016. The findings suggest an extensive negative association between trade liberalization and the environmental performance of selected countries. It is also shown that climate change performance is an important channel for the overall environmental change. The results regarding heterogeneous differences affirm the concept of sustainability and the pollution halo hypothesis. However, it is suggested that each country should make an effort to improve its environmental performance along with economic development. The role of green innovation and renewable energy is very crucial in this regard. The outcomes of this study could be helpful for researchers and policymakers to form better policies regarding the environment and climate change.

Accomplishing unremitting favorable health outcomes, especially reducing maternal mortality, remains a challenge for South Asian countries. This study explores the relationship between health expenditure and maternal mortality by using data set consisting of 18 years from 2000 to 2017. Fully modified ordinary least squares (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) models were employed for the empirical analysis. The outcomes revealed that a 1% rise in health expenditure increased the maternal mortality rate by 1.95% in the case of FMOLS estimator and 0.16% in the case of DOLS estimator. This reflects that the prevailing health care system is not adequate for reducing maternal mortality. Moreover, the meager system and the priorities established by an elitist system in which the powerless and poor are not considered may also lead to worsen the situation. In addition, the study also added population, economic growth, sanitation, and clean fuel technology in the empirical model. The findings revealed that population growth has a significant long-term effect on maternal mortality—an increase of 40% in the case of FMOLS and 10% in the case of DOLS—and infers that an increase in population growth has also dampened efforts towards reducing maternal mortality in the South Asian panel. Further, the results in the case of economic growth, sanitation, and clean fuel technologies showed significant long-term negative effects on maternal mortality by 94%, 7.2%, and 11%, respectively, in the case of the FMOLS estimator, and 18%, 1.9%, and 5%, respectively, in the case of the DOLS estimator. The findings imply that GDP and access to sanitation and clean fuel technologies are more nuanced in declining maternal mortality. In conclusion, the verdict shows that policymakers should formulate policies considering the fundamental South Asian aspects warranted to reduce maternal mortality.

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Undernourishment is a big challenge for humanity across the world. Considering the significance of reducing undernourishment, the current study focuses on exploring the macroeconomic determinants of undernourishment in the South Asian panel. The study employed econometric models that are more robust to underpin cross-sectional dependency and heterogeneity in a panel data set. The overall findings reveal that an increase in food production increases undernourishment and infer that food availability at the national level is insufficient to reduce undernourishment unless poor people also had economic and physical access to food. In the case of economic growth and governance, the results are negatively significant in some countries. The results infer that GDP and quality of governance are nuanced in declining the rate of undernourishment in some countries, while in other countries where the results are found insignificant, the government should seek other interventions to curtail the prevalence of undernourishment. Unexpectedly, an increase in food prices lessens the undernourishment in developing countries that reflect that food prices might transform the dietary patterns of poor people from nutrient-rich foods to nutrient-poor staples, thus lead to undernourishment reduction but trigger overweight and obesity alongside. In conclusion, the results depict that policymakers should devise strategies keeping in view fundamental aspects of the country to reduce undernourishment.

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