Modelling renewable energy adoption across south Asian economies: Empirical evidence from Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka

This paper aims to empirically shed light on the pertinence of enhancing trade and foreign capital flows with relevance to stimulating greater use of renewable energy resources across selected South Asian economies namely Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The economic transition from the use of non-renewable energy tothe renewable alternatives is an interesting genre of research keeping the partial attainment of the United Nations' 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agenda into consideration. Against this milieu, trade and financial liberalization policies are anticipated to play a pivotal role in facilitating the renewable energy transition phenomenon across South Asia. The overall results from the econometric analyses imply that higher degrees of trade openness and greater foreign currency inflows can invariably play critically important roles in amplifying the shares of renewables in the total energy consumption levels across this region. Thus, these findings impose key policy implications for attainment of energy sustainability across South Asia.

Automated summary

This study empirically investigates the importance of enhancing trade and foreign capital flows in stimulating the use of renewable energy resources in South Asian countries. The results show that higher degrees of trade openness and greater foreign currency inflows can significantly increase the share of renewables in total energy consumption levels in the region. Therefore, trade and financial policies play a crucial role in facilitating the transition to renewable energy and have key policy implications for energy sustainability in South Asia.