The relationship between CO₂ emissions, renewable and non-renewable energy consumption, economic growth, and urbanisation in the Southern Common Market

Abstract

The causalities between carbon dioxide emissions, renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption, economic growth, and urbanisation were examined for the panel of five countries (Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela) from Southern Common Market, over thirty-five years , using a panel vector autoregression. The empirical analysis pointed to the existence of bi-directional causality between the consumption of fossil fuels, economic growth, consumption of renewable energy, and carbon dioxide emissions; and a uni-directional relationship between the consumption of renewable energy and urbanisation. The research also proves that the countries from Southern Common Market are dependent on fossil fuels consumption and that urbanisation process is highly linked with the consumption of this type of energy. Additionally, it was found that these countries have low renewable energy participation in their energy mix. Nevertheless, a substitutability effect between the consumption of renewable energy and the consumption of fossil fuels, as a possible response to periods of scarcity in reservoirs, was detected. Policymakers of Southern Common Market countries should speed up the deep reforms regarding renewable energy to mitigate environmental degradation.

Examining the role of climate finance in the Environmental Kuznets Curve for Sub-Sahara African countries

“…Note that whilst the coefficient positive estimates on energy consumption and FDI (i.e. pollution halo effect) are expected and are consistent with findings in the empirical literature (e.g., Behera & Dash, 2017;Sarkodie & Strezov, 2019; Balsalobre-Lorente et al, 2020), the positive estimate on renewable energy is quite surprising since, a number of authors inclusive of Adams and Acheampong (2019) and Koengkan et al (2019) find that renewable energy reduces environmental degradation. However, our findings of a positive effect of renewable energy on emissions has been recently found in the study of Adams and Nsaih (2019) who argues that renewable energy can contribute to increased emissions if countries have low levels of democracy and institutions.…”

Are Energy Consumption, Population Density and Exports Causing Environmental Damage in China? Autoregressive Distributed Lag and Vector Error Correction Model Approaches

“…The nexus between CO 2 emissions, economic growth, and energy consumption, as discussed in the current empirical literature, is also not uniform. For example, Alam, Begum [25], Appiah [26], Alam, Begum [27], Koengkan, Losekann [28], and Koengkan, Fuinhas [29] found a bidirectional causal link between CO 2 emissions and energy consumption for India, Ghana, Bangladesh, four Andean community countries and five countries, including Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay, and Venezuela, respectively. However, no causality between economic growth and CO 2 emissions was found in India, though a unidirectional causality running from CO 2 emissions to economic growth was found in Bangladesh.…”

Linking Economic Growth, Urbanization, and Environmental Degradation in China: What Is the Role of Hydroelectricity Consumption?

“…Notwithstanding the well-established studies, scholars have paid little attention to the influence of hydroelectricity on CO 2 emissions in China. Prior research looked at many pollution factors, such as energy usage and GDP [10][11][12][13][14], urban population [11,[15][16][17][18][19][20], financial development [21][22][23], and trade openness [24][25][26][27][28]. Furthermore, because CO 2 emissions account for more than 76 percent of GHGs emissions, the majority of researchers utilized CO 2 as an indication of degradation of the environment [19,25,28,29].…”

“…Prior research looked at many pollution factors, such as energy usage and GDP [ 10 , 11 , 12 , 13 , 14 ], urban population [ 11 , 15 , 16 , 17 , 18 , 19 , 20 ], financial development [ 21 , 22 , 23 ], and trade openness [ 24 , 25 , 26 , 27 , 28 ]. Furthermore, because CO 2 emissions account for more than 76 percent of GHGs emissions, the majority of researchers utilized CO 2 as an indication of degradation of the environment [ 19 , 25 , 28 , 29 ]. The environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) theory has gained popularity amongst researchers as a significant instrument for environmental policy.…”