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Sustainable pathways for attaining net-zero emissions in European emerging countries — the nexus between renewable energy sources and ecological footprint

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Abstract

This study aims to investigate the relationship between renewable energy and ecological footprint during the period of 1994–2018 from selected developing countries in Europe (Czechia, Croatia, Poland, Romania, Romania, and Turkey). In this context, the ecological footprint (EF), which has recently been the most widely used environmental indicator in the literature and is known as the most comprehensive because it includes many environmental factors, has been determined as the dependent variable. As independent variables, renewable energy consumption (REC), energy-related tax revenue (ETR), and energy productivity (EP) are included in the model. GDP and development of environment-related technologies (DET), which affect the ecological footprint in the model, are determined as control variables. As a result of the panel data analysis, according to the Durbin–Hausman cointegration test result, a long-term relationship between the variables was determined. According to the CCE estimator analysis, it can be said that there is a positive relationship between ETR and GDP variables and EF. For the AMG estimator analysis, it can be said that there is a positive relationship between GDP and EP variables and EF. Finally, according to the results of the Konya Causality test, a unidirectional causality relationship is detected from environmental technologies to the ecological footprint in Turkey, and a unidirectional causality relationship from the ecological footprint to GDP in Czechia, Romania, and Turkey. Furthermore, no causality relationship is detected between other variables. Based on the results, several policy implications are suggested.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Tourism Studies, School of Business Studies, Central University of Kerala, Kasaragod, India

    Sunil Tiwari

  2. Department of Economics and Finance, Sunway University, Subang Jaya, Malaysia

    Arshian Sharif

  3. Department of Economics and Finance, Danubius University from Galati, Galati, Romania

    Florian Nuta & Alina Cristina Nuta

  4. Department of Economics, Hasan Kalyoncu University, Gaziantep, Turkey

    Ibrahim CUTCU

  5. Department of Economics, Kilis 7 Aralik University, Kilis, Turkey

    Mehmet Vahit EREN

  6. Adnan Kassar School of Business, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon

    Arshian Sharif

  7. University of Economics, and Human Sciences, Warsaw, Poland

    Arshian Sharif

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Contributions

Sunil Tiwari: writing, data collection; Arshian Sharif: review and supervision; Florian Nuta: writing draft, conclusion; Alina Cristina Nuta: data curation and software; Ibrahim CUTCU: data, analysis, review, improvement, and concept; Mehmet Vahit EREN: introduction, methods, and data analysis.

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Correspondence to Arshian Sharif.

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Tiwari, S., Sharif, A., Nuta, F. et al. Sustainable pathways for attaining net-zero emissions in European emerging countries — the nexus between renewable energy sources and ecological footprint. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 105999–106014 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-023-29704-1

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