Nexus between growth trajectories and carbon dioxide emissions: re-examining the environmental Kuznets curve for Asian countries
摘要
This study examined the growth patterns of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for 29 selected Asian countries from 1990 to 2022. The growth patterns of per capita emissions of carbon dioxide for different countries were estimated by applying the trend-stationary or difference-stationary process. The growth rates of per capita CO2 emissions for most Asian countries were either medium or high over the study period. The shape of the Environmental Kuznets curve was N-shaped for a few selected countries on the continent. Most countries maintained an expensive negative decoupling relationship between emissions of CO2 and economic growth. The study also used the panel Autoregressive Distributed Lag Model (ARDL) method for the estimation of long-run and short-run relationships between emissions of CO2 and a few environment-related indicators of selected Asian countries. The panel unit root test and Pedroni cointegration tests established evidence in favor of a long-run relationship between emissions of CO2 and its determinants. In conclusion, the emissions of CO2 in most of the selected countries can be reduced with improvements in increases in forest area and higher use of renewable energy.