Does women's political empowerment matter for improving the environment? A heterogeneous dynamic panel analysis

Abstract

According to the UN Agenda 21 in 1992, women were regarded as a very important part in achieving sustainable development. In this agenda, participation, equality, and empowerment for females were emphasized as bases for sustainable development. In this paper, we make an attempt to explore the relationship between women's political empowerment (WPE) and CO2 emissions. To that end, we apply panel‐cointegration techniques to investigate both long‐term and short‐term effects of WPE on the environment in 72 countries during 1971–2012. The results from the pooled mean group (PMG) estimator indicate that, in the long run, CO2 emissions decrease by about 11.51 percent points in response to a one‐unit increase in the index of WPE after controlling for a variety of other factors. However, the short‐term estimated coefficient of WPE is statistically insignificant. Moreover, further study shows that women's civil society participation has the largest effect, followed by political participation. Another noteworthy result is the effect of energy intensity. We find that both the long‐term and short‐term estimated coefficient of energy intensity are positive and highly statistically significant, but the magnitude of the short‐term estimated coefficient is lower than the long‐term one. This comparison suggests that the influence of energy intensity on CO2 emissions would usually take some time to materialize fully. From a policy perspective, our estimation results suggest that improving the status of women worldwide, especially in the developing countries, can reduce CO2 emissions.

Technowomen: Women’s Autonomy and Its Impact on Environmental Quality

“…However, in both situations, women are considered more environmentally friendly compared to men. Lv and Deng [43] considered a positive role of women participating in the civil society matters to improve the natural environment and reduce healthcare concerns that are a matter of chance for parliament to support environmental conservation.…”

Corporate Social Responsibility at the Micro-Level as a “New Organizational Value” for Sustainability: Are Females More Aligned towards It?

“…These activities from employees can be expected if their behavior towards nature is improved and they realize that their individual contribution is vital to preserving nature [ 18 ]. Further, eco-feminist literature further confirms the gender differences in human and environmental relations, indicating that females are more inclined to preserve the environment [ 19 , 20 ]. Common sense suggests that females focus on the role of guardian and are interested in learning and nurturing social behaviors such as helping and caring for others [ 21 , 22 ].…”

Ecofeminism and Natural Resource Management: Justice Delayed, Justice Denied

“…The result enforced the need to involve women in political decisions that reshaping economic and environmental policies for sustainable growth. Lv and Deng [27] considered a panel of 72 countries to assess women's political autonomy and environmental quality from 1971 through 2012. The results show that women's political empowerment and women's participation in civil society reduce carbon emissions.…”