Do renewable energy consumption and green trade openness matter for human well-being? Empirical evidence from European Union countries

Human well-being is an important indicator that indicates the welfare level of society. In recent literature, scholars have attempted to detect the determinants of human well-being. However, the impact of green trade openness on human well-being has not been investigated. Also, there are limited studies on renewable energy and the human well-being nexus. Hence, this study aims to investigate the impact of green trade openness and renewable energy consumption on human well-being for 25 European Union (EU) member states over the period from 2003 to 2016. The empirical findings demonstrated that green trade openness increases human well-being in all quantiles (0.1-0.90), while renewable energy consumption shows a significant and positive effect on human well-being across quantiles (0.1-0.90) in EU nations. These conclusions were found robust in all estimation techniques. Lastly, policy suggestions are directed to raise the level of human well-being.

Automated summary

This study investigates the impact of green trade openness and renewable energy consumption on human well-being in 25 EU member states. The findings show that both green trade openness and renewable energy consumption have a positive effect on human well-being.