Economic and social determinants of carbon emissions: Evidence from organization of petroleum exporting countries

• Author: Seyi S. Akadiri,Mersedeh K. Paskeh,Cagay Coskuner,Godwin Olasehinde‐Williams
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2092
• Published date: 01 August 2020
• Date: 01 August 2020

ACADEMIC PAPER

Economic and social determinants of carbon emissions:

Evidence from organization of petroleum exporting countries

Cagay Coskuner

1

| Mersedeh K. Paskeh

1

| Godwin Olasehinde-Williams

2

|

Seyi S. Akadiri

3

1

Faculty of Business and Economics,

Department of Economics, Eastern

Mediterranean University, Famagusta, Turkey

2

School of Economics and Management,

Nanchang University, Nanchang, China

3

International Economics and Management

Department, Graduate School of Economics

and Management, Ural Federal University,

Ekaterinburg, Russia

Correspondence

Seyi S. Akadiri, International Economics and

Management Department, Graduate School of

Economics and Management, Ural Federal

University, Ekaterinburg, Russia.

Email: seyisaint2002@gmail.com

This research investigates the economic and social determinants of carbon emissions

in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) over the period

1995–2016. The study particularly examines the link between CO

2

emissions and

four socio-economic variables (per-capita GDP, urbanisation, fossil fuel energy con-

sumption and international trade). A long-run relationship amongst these variables is

confirmed by Kao, Pedroni and Johansen panel cointegration tests. Fully modified

ordinary least squares outcomes show that the relationship between CO

2

emission

and GDP is non-linear in OPEC countries and follows the inverted U-shape

suggested by the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis. Also, urbanisation is

responsible for a significant proportion of carbon emissions in OPEC countries. As

expected, fossil fuel energy consumption is a significant positive driver of carbon

emission. International trade significantly contributes to carbon emissions within

OPEC member countries.

1|INTRODUCTION

Dangerous changes are taking place in the global environment as a

result of human activities. The anthropogenic transformation of the

environment through human-induced actions such as industrial

processes, deforestation, land clearing for agriculture, degradation of

soils, and fossil fuel burnings for electricity, transportation, heat and

industry is of great concern for two particular reasons related to

greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

First, it has resulted in dramatic changes to the chemical composi-

tion of the atmosphere as a result of indiscriminate emission of GHGs

such as carbon dioxide, methane, chlorofluorocarbons and nitrous

oxide. In general, GHGs lower the efficiency with which the earth

cools itself and distort the radioactive balance of the earth, thereby

altering the atmospheric and oceanic temperatures as well as weather

patterns (Leggett, Pepper and Swart, 1992).

Second, it has led to serious changes in the global biosphere. As at

1700, half of the global biosphere was in its natural state, while about

45% of it was in a semi-natural condition. However, as at the year

2000, more than half of the biosphere had become human settlements

and agricultural land, with only about 20% remaining in a semi-natural

state and just 25% retaining its natural state (Ellis, Klein Goldewijk,

Siebert, Lightman, & Ramankutty, 2010; Harrison & Pearce, 2000;

Vitousek, Mooney, Lubchenco, & Melillo, 1997). This drastic change in

the terrestrial biosphere indicates a reduction in the number of trees

available to absorb GHGs from the atmosphere. This further raises the

level of GHGs in the atmosphere. Trees have as much as 300 billion

tons of carbon stored up in them. This amounts to about 40 times the

yearly carbon emission from fossil fuels. Not only will fewer trees lead

to lower absorption of GHGs from the atmosphere, GHGs stored up

in the felled trees will also be released into the atmosphere.

Karl, Melillo, Peterson, and Hassol (2009) show that global

warming over the past several decades has been mainly due to

human-induced increases in GHGs. As a result of GHG emissions, the

world is currently experiencing climate change in the form of extreme

temperatures (record lows and record highs) in different regions, melt-

ing icebergs in both North and South Poles, rising sea levels,

temperature-related changes in the bio-habitat of several animal and

plant kingdoms, more frequent and more severe tornadoes, droughts

and snow falls. Proliferation of GHGs also adversely impacts the

health determinants such as food supply, water resources and ecologi-

cal disease control vectors (Collaboration IARU et al., 2009).

Received: 7 October 2019 Revised: 14 December 2019 Accepted: 2 February 2020

DOI: 10.1002/pa.2092

J Public Affairs. 2020;20:e2092. wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/pa © 2020 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd 1of15

https://doi.org/10.1002/pa.2092