The effects of renewable energy, economic openness and urbanization on carbon dioxide emissions in African countries: Empirical evidence

Abstract

Climate change is one of the most complex issues of our time, and dealing with the need to stabilize global   emissions is a major concern for policymakers. The determinants of carbon emissions have long attracted significant attention from researchers. Quantitative research on the determinants is critically important for formulating policies to reduce  emissions. This article aims to assess the impact of renewable energy, economic openness and urbanization on   emissions for a panel of data from 29 African countries. The study period is from 2007 to 2021.  In this regard, by using the R software, we can employ panel autoregressive vector model (VAR-P) estimation to uncover the short-term relationship between our variables. The results of the impulse response analysis indicate that  emissions are reduced by renewable energies and economic openness. On the other hand, urbanization contributes to their increase. These results contribute to the existing literature, and represent interesting data for public policy decision-making in African countries.

Keywords :  emissions ; renewable energies ; economic openness ; urbanization ; Africa ; P-VAR.

JEL Classification : C33 ; J11 ; F15 ; F64 ; Q40 ; Q54.

Paper type : Empirical research.