Impact of fossil fuels energy consumption, energy policies, and urban sprawl on carbon emissions in East Asia and the Pacific: A panel investigation

This paper employs the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in studying the impact of energy consumption, economic growth, and urbanization on carbon emissions in developing economies. Data from twelve developing East Asian and Pacific countries for the period 1990 to 2014 has been used for analysis. The empirical results, estimated through application of the System Generalized Method of Moment (GMM), show that energy consumption, economic growth, and urbanization all significantly increase carbon emissions, thereby adding to serious environmental challenges in the region. Moreover, public policies designed to shift economies from non-renewable to renewable energy resources have been taken into account, and their impact was found to have been insignificant in the sampled countries. However, the results depict an inverted U-shaped relationship between per capita economic growth and carbon emissions, confirming the existence of an EKC in the region. The empirical findings suggest that energy conservation and policies fostering use of renewables helped to improve economic growth, control carbon emissions, and support the rising energy demand resulting from increased urban sprawl. In order to improve the influence of public policies in controlling carbon emissions, our analysis finds a need for stronger initiative to be taken in regional dialogues and policy frameworks, and for greater collaboration among diverse stakeholders often characterized by differing values, interests, and objectives.