Dynamic nexus between energy consumption, economic growth, and urbanization with carbon emission: evidence from panel PMG-ARDL estimation

Abstract

Carbon emission has been documented as a significant component of greenhouse gas that has been a significant source of environmental distortion globally. Based on panel data of 15 nations from 1980 to 2017, this study empirically investigates the impact of energy consumption, economic growth, urbanization, and energy consumption on carbon emission using panel co-integration tests and pooled mean group ARDL (PMG-ARDL) techniques. We augment the model with urbanization to establish the role urbanization plays in energy consumption, economic growth, and carbon emission nexus. Findings confirm that in the long run and short run, urbanization has no significant effect on the environment quality. On the other hand, energy consumption was found to enhance environmental destruction significantly in the short run and long run. Additional findings confirmed that economic growth causes environmental distortion in the long run for the sampled nations. Government officials and policymakers need to pay special attention to enhance adequate energy, urban planning, and emission reduction without affecting the economic development to achieve urban-economic-energy sustainability, which is key to attaining a green and clean environment.

Keywords: Carbon emission; Economic growth; Energy consumption; Energy economics; Environmental economics; PMG-ARDL; Panel Co-integration; Urbanization.