Global Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Emission in 2005: Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis and Implications for Policy

• Main Author: T. S. Krishnan
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Progressive Sustainable Developers Nepal 2016-05-01
• Series: International Journal of Environment
• Subjects: Environmental Kuznets Curve; Carbon Dioxide Emission; Environmental Governance
• Online Access: http://nepjol.info/index.php/IJE/article/view/15006

<p>Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis provides support for public policies that emphasize economic growth at the expense of environmental degradation. This hypothesis postulates an inverted U-shaped relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation with plausible explanations. We contribute to the discussion on EKC hypothesis by focusing on anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO₂) emission (a greenhouse gas) during an extreme year. In the year 2005, concentration of anthropogenic CO₂ became higher than the natural range observed over the last 650,000 years. Using econometric modeling of data from 122 countries for the year 2005, we study the key question: Does EKC hypothesis hold for anthropogenic CO₂ emission after controlling for energy consumption and environmental governance? We do not find statistical support for EKC hypothesis. But, we find that improvements in environmental governance reduces CO₂ emission. This suggests support for environmental policies that specifically promote CO₂ emission reduction and does not emphasize economic growth at the expense of environmental degradation.</p><p><strong>INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ENVIRONMENT</strong><br />Volume-5, Issue-2, March-May 2016, Page: 48-60</p>