Does energy transition reduce carbon inequality? A global analysis
C23; Carbon inequality; Energy transition; Environmental degradation; F01; Global analysis; Panel data methods; Q42; Q51; Q56
Energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables is instrumental in mitigating climate change. Low-income countries have a higher share of renewable energy in their total energy consumption than rich countries (WDI, 2023). Thus, it is imperative to examine the role of energy transition in affecting relative CO2 emissions between rich and poor sections of the societies across income groups of the countries. In this context, our study contributes by constructing the carbon inequality models with renewable and non-renewable energy consumption as prime explanatory variables separately for 114 countries over a data period 19902019. The models are estimated individually for high-middle-low-income countries by controlling for foreign direct investment (FDI), economic growth, and innovations. Starting with preliminary econometric operations, we employ the dynamic simulated panel autoregressive distributed lag approach and Driscoll-Kraay standard error regression for empirical investigation. We find that energy transition reduces carbon inequality globally. Innovation has a negative impact, economic growth has a positive impact on carbon inequality, and FDI has an asymmetric impact based on the income level of the countries. The crucial global policy implications are discussed. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2024.
Environmental Science and Pollution Research, Vol-31, No. 23, pp. 34689-34708.
ISSN: 9441344; PubMed ID: 38713356; CODEN: ESPLE
Patel G., School of Business and Management, CHRIST (Deemed to Be University), Karnataka, Bengaluru, 560029, India; Pal S., School of Business and Management, CHRIST (Deemed to Be University), Karnataka, Bengaluru, 560029, India; Sahu A.K., Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur, West Bengal, Kharagpur, 721302, India