Chronological change of resource metabolism and decarbonization patterns in Pakistan: Perspectives from a typical developing country

Abstract

With economic growth in many developing countries, not all are making similar progress with regard to material and environmental efficiencies. This study examines material use and CO2 emission patterns and intensities from 1971 to 2015 in a typical developing country, Pakistan, and investigates national‐level and multi‐country‐level efficiency improvements using data envelopment analysis. The results are used to derive key policy insights for a sustainable economic transition with higher resource and carbon efficiencies. Results show that material intensity has reduced by 39.1% while CO2 intensity has risen by 21.5% in the country. Pakistan, when compared with its top 10 export countries, was relatively more material and CO2 intensive. National‐level efficiency was found to be low in most of the periods due to material/energy intensive agriculture and industries, low value‐added exports, etc. Insights from the national‐level efficiency analysis indicate that surging CO2 intensities have started to decline since 2010 and the economy has greatly stabilized. Multi‐country analysis revealed that the efficiency gap between Pakistan and its developed export countries (such as the United Kingdom and France) has widened during the study period. Insights from the multi‐country analysis suggest that the economic growth and industrialization improves material and environmental efficiencies to some extent, yet these improvements are not equally distributed among all countries. As a way forward, integrated policies on sustainable resource consumption, carbon mitigation, and economic growth are necessary for accruing higher benefits from rising global trade and resource connectedness.

Exploring the Sustainability of Resource Flow and Productivity Transition in Vietnam from 1978 to 2017: MFA and DEA-Based Malmquist Productivity Index Approach

“…In addition, recently, MFA has been extended to analyze the efficiency of economic ecosystems by data envelopment analysis (DEA), which measures the efficiency of a system by the ratio of the weighted outputs to inputs [20]. These resource flow and productivity efficiency research studies confirm that an in-depth investigation of the material flow and efficiency trends and socioeconomic drivers could provide critical insights into resource management strategies and policies for sustainable development in a country, or at the regional level [4,10].…”

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Climate change impacts on agriculture sector: A case study of Pakistan

“…A rare and constantly decreasing network of stations sharp differences in the hydrometeorological regime of individual regions of the state and the absence of microclimatic significantly complicates the task of assessing resources by traditional methods and approaches, making it impossible in some areas. The vulnerability of the region is even more aggravated by the inefficient use of resources, outdated infrastructure, low practical application of relevant standards and norms, as well as the poor condition of ecology and high levels of pollution (SHAH & PARK, 2020). The importance of agriculture in the economies of different countries is different, but with the growth of GDP per capita and structural changes in the economy, the share of agriculture decreases, which is predictable.…”

Regional sustainability assessment using emergy accounting approach: The case of Nepal in South Asia

“…The momentum for sustainabilitywhich relies on a multifaceted approach encompassing economy, society, and the environmenthas gained wider recognition globally [1,2]. The need for sustainable development arises as human pressures on the environment, in terms of depletion of limited resources and waste generation, have reached alarming levels in the recent times [3,4].…”