Carbonization and atmospheric pollution in China: The asymmetric impacts of forests, livestock production, and economic progress on CO2 emissions

Abstract

The accumulation of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has surged over the years as a consequence of diverse humans activities such as deforestation and farming, in particular. The rapidly growing agriculture and farm mechanization have contributed to substantial increases in energy use and carbon dioxide emissions across the globe. It is hypothesized that agriculture significantly contributes to a country's economy to which China is no exception. Hence, the main intention of the current study was to explore the asymmetrical influences of cereal crop production, forestry production, and economic progress on CO₂ emissions in China between 1970 and 2017. The non-linear ARDL (Autoregressive Distributed Lag) bounds testing method was used to determine the short- and long-run dynamics linked with positive and negative shocks to the explanatory variables. The findings indicate that positive shocks to cereal crop production deteriorate the atmospheric quality by intensifying carbon dioxide emissions only in the long run, while the impacts of negative shocks in this regard are statistically insignificant. Ironically, shocks to forestry do not exhibit any significant impact on China's carbon dioxide emission levels. Moreover, carbon dioxide emissions demonstrate a strong progressive association with the positive shocks to energy resources utilized within the Chinese economy. Additionally, positive and negative shocks to economic progress are evidenced to boost and reduce the carbon dioxide emission figures in the long run. Lastly, negative shocks to livestock production are witnessed to increase carbon dioxide emissions only in the short run. Hence, for achieving the Chinese carbon-neutrality agenda, it is recommended to prioritize the use of renewable energy resources, particularly for producing cereal crops, in order to curb carbon dioxide emissions in China. Simultaneously, the Chinese economic growth policies should integrate environmentally-friendly schemes to counter the adversative environmental influences related to the economic progress in China.

Keywords: Asymmetric analysis; CO(2) emissions; Cereal crops; Economic progress; Forestry production; Livestock.