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Does political risk spur environmental issues in China?

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A Correction to this article was published on 21 January 2023

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Abstract

China is one of the largest emitters of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in the world. Therefore, it is essential to explore the determinants of CO2 emissions in China. But previous studies so far have not examined how the political risk of this country can affect its CO2 emissions due to the lack of a long-term dataset. Hence, this study aims to capture the effect of political risk on China’s CO2 emissions while controlling renewable energy consumption, technological innovation, and the economy's economic growth. We employ Bayer and Hanck cointegration, FMOLS, DOLS, CCR, and frequency domain causality tests to establish the relationship among the variables mentioned above. The outcome of the study reveals that political stability is an important predictor of environmental degradation in China. Moreover, political stability is helpful to lower CO2 emissions, while technological innovation and renewable energy consumption can reduce CO2 emissions, economic growth further deteriorates environmental quality by increasing its carbon emissions. Therefore, the present study recommends that policymakers in China should control political tension in the country to control CO2 emissions and, at the same time, promote technological innovation and renewable energy consumption.

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Notes

  1. Political risk “is merely part of the nation’s risk and occurs as a result of challenges and developments affecting the political climate, including bureaucratic quality, the stability of the government, domestic and international disputes, ethnic and social issues, and rule of law. Political risk index spans between 0 (maximum risk) and 100 (minimum risk). The PRS Group evaluates these risk indices utilizing the following parameters: democratic accountability, socio-economic factors, the stability of the government, bureaucratic efficiency, religious and ethnic challenges, profiles of investment, rule of law and domestic and foreign disputes.”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Banking and Finance, Faculty of Economic and Administrative Sciences, European University of Lefke, Lefke, Northern Cyprus, TR-10, Mersin, Turkey

    Dervis Kirikkaleli

  2. Department of Resource Economics and Environmental Sociology (REES), University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada

    Muhammad Ibrahim Shah

  3. Department Business Administration, Faculty of Economics and Administrative Sciences, Cyprus International University, Northern Cyprus TR-10, Mersin, Turkey

    Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo

  4. Department of Economics, Faculty Of Economics, Administrative and Social Sciences, Nisantasi University, Nisantasi, Turkey

    Mehmet Altuntaş

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  1. Dervis Kirikkaleli
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  2. Muhammad Ibrahim Shah
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  3. Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo
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  4. Mehmet Altuntaş
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Contributions

Muhammad Ibrahim Shah and Dervis Kirikkaleli organized the analysis and gather the dataset. The introduction and literature review parts are written by Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo. Dervis Kirikkaleli and Mehmet Altuntaş created the study’s methodology part and empirical findings. The interpretation of the results was assisted by Muhammad Ibrahim Shah, Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo, and Dervis Kirikkaleli. The final manuscript was read and endorsed by all of the authors.

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Correspondence to Tomiwa Sunday Adebayo.

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Kirikkaleli, D., Shah, M.I., Adebayo, T.S. et al. Does political risk spur environmental issues in China?. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 62637–62647 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-19951-z

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