Pollution and renewable energy consumption in the V4 countries

Abstract

Considering quite high levels of pollution in V4 countries, the aim of this paper is to assess if renewable energy consumption reduces CO₂ emissions in the period 1996-2022. The time series approach based on autoregressive distributed lag models (ARDL models) for each state in the sample indicated that renewable energy consumption reduced CO₂ emissions, while GDP enhanced pollution. Foreign direct investment had no effect on environmental quality. Political stability had no impact on pollution in Poland and Hungary, while it reduced CO₂ emissions in the Czech Republic and enhanced them in Slovakia. The results are subject to policy proposals.

Keywords: ARDL models; CO2 emissions; Pollution; Renewable energy consumption.