Sultana Tasnim, Hossain Md Shaddam, Voumik Liton Chandra, Raihan Asif
Department of Economics, Noakhali Science and Technology University, Noakhali, 3814, Bangladesh.
Institute of Forestry and Environmental Sciences, University of Chittagong, Bangladesh.
Heliyon. 2023 Sep 29;9(10):e20488. doi: 10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e20488. eCollection 2023 Oct.
Unquestionably, the industrial revolution of the twenty-first century contributes to global warming. Excessive amounts of carbon emissions into the atmosphere are responsible for global warming. Therefore, this research aims to assess the impact of GDP, green energy consumption, population, trade openness, and democracy on CO2 emissions in four selected South Asian countries from 1990 to 2019. This research also attempts to evaluate the EKC hypothesis in terms of economic growth (GDP2). The unit root of panel data and cointegration tests are executed in this study as a prelude to the regression analysis. Quantile regression for panel data, which (Powell, 2016) devised to deal with the fixed effect problem, is used in this study, and (Powell, 2016) empirical findings are the main focus. The estimated coefficient of GDP is positively significant, demonstrating that economic activity increases the burning of fossil fuels and upsurges atmospheric CO2 emissions. After attaining economic development, the reversed U-shaped EKC theory is valid for four selected South Asian countries. Economic development encourages these countries to use green technology, which helps mitigate CO2 emissions. The research, however, reveals that green energy is to blame for CO2 emissions. Burning biomass releases carbon dioxide that negatively impacts the quality of the environment. The study confirms that human activities are the leading contributor to environmental deterioration. Population growth has a worsening effect on the environment. The association between population and CO2 emissions is positively significant. The estimated coefficient of trade openness is positive, which increases CO2 emissions significantly. The estimated coefficient of democracy is quite negative. Therefore, this study suggests prioritizing democracy to reduce CO2 emissions. Citizens who live in democracies are better informed, more organized, and able to protest, all of which contribute to increased government responsiveness to environmental preservation. The results of the Wald test support the differential effects at various quantiles. The Dumitrescu-Hurlin (2012) panel causality tests are also used in this analysis to check causality between variables. Based on the findings, this research makes many policy suggestions for lowering carbon emissions.
毫无疑问，21世纪的工业革命加剧了全球变暖。大气中过量的碳排放是全球变暖的罪魁祸首。因此，本研究旨在评估1990年至2019年期间四个选定南亚国家的国内生产总值（GDP）、绿色能源消费、人口、贸易开放度和民主对二氧化碳排放的影响。本研究还试图根据经济增长（GDP²）来评估环境库兹涅茨曲线（EKC）假说。作为回归分析的前奏，本研究进行了面板数据的单位根检验和协整检验。本研究使用了为处理固定效应问题而设计的面板数据分位数回归（鲍威尔，2016年），并将（鲍威尔，2016年）的实证结果作为主要关注点。GDP的估计系数为正且显著，表明经济活动增加了化石燃料的燃烧，导致大气中二氧化碳排放量激增。在实现经济发展之后，倒U形的EKC理论对四个选定的南亚国家是有效的。经济发展促使这些国家采用绿色技术，这有助于减少二氧化碳排放。然而，研究表明绿色能源也是二氧化碳排放的原因之一。燃烧生物质会释放二氧化碳，对环境质量产生负面影响。该研究证实人类活动是环境恶化的主要原因。人口增长对环境有恶化影响。人口与二氧化碳排放之间的关联为正且显著。贸易开放度的估计系数为正，这显著增加了二氧化碳排放。民主的估计系数相当为负。因此，本研究建议优先推进民主以减少二氧化碳排放。生活在民主国家的公民信息更灵通、组织更有序且能够进行抗议，所有这些都有助于提高政府对环境保护的响应能力。沃尔德检验的结果支持了不同分位数下的差异效应。本分析还使用了杜米特雷斯库 - 赫尔林（2012年）面板因果检验来检验变量之间的因果关系。基于这些发现，本研究提出了许多降低碳排放的政策建议。
