Original scientific paper
https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2022.2066555
Do financial development and energy efficiency ensure green environment? Evidence from R.C.E.P. economies
Yousaf Latif
Ge Shunqi
Zeeshan Fareed
Salman Ali
Muhammad Adnan Bashir
Abstract
The issue of climate change and environmental degradation has
been prevailing for the last few decades. Yet economies are further
expanding due to free trade agreement which accelerates
the trade of energy and carbon intensive commodities across the
regions. A prominent example of such free trade is the Regional
Comprehensive Economic Partnership (R.C.E.P.), which mostly
remains ignored. The current research study explores the influence
of financial development (F.D.) and energy efficiency
(E.N.E.F.) on carbon emissions in the R.C.E.P. economies. Also, this
study analyses the role of economic growth and renewable
energy on environmental quality during the period from 1990 to
2020. Panel data approaches such as slope heterogeneity, crosssection
dependence, and the second-generation panel unit root
test are used. The non-normally distributed variables are found
cointegrated. Therefore, a novel method of moments quantile
regression is used. The results demonstrate that F.D. and economic
growth are positively associated with CO2 emissions. At
the same time, E.N.E.F. and renewable energy consumption
(R.E.C.) significantly reduce the emissions level and promote a
green environment in all quantiles. The environmental Kuznets
curve is found valid in the R.C.E.P. economies. These results are
robust as validated by Fully-Modified Ordinary Least Square – a
parametric approach. A two-way significant causal association
exists between carbon-economic growth, carbon-F.D., carbon-
R.E.C., and carbon-E.N.E.F.. The findings suggest an enhancement
in R.E.C., improvement in the E.N.E.F. approaches, and implications
for green F.D. in the region.
Keywords
financial development (F.D.); energy efficiency (E.N.E.F.); green environment; economic growth; renewable energy; method of moments quantile regression
Hrčak ID:
303720
URI
Publication date:
31.3.2023.
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