Do remittance and renewable energy affect CO2 emissions? An empirical evidence from selected G-20 countries

The study aims to compare CO2 emissions, renewable energy, trade openness, gross domestic product (GDP), financial development (FD), and remittance in selected G-20 countries. The study carried out fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) models for estimation covering annual data from the year 1990-2019. LM tests detected the cross-section dependency while stationarity of the variables was checked through Levin-Lin-Chu and Im-Pesaran-Shin tests along with Hansen's Covariate-Augmented Dickey Fuller (CADF) test in the presence of cross-section dependency. The panel unit root tests reported that all variables became stationary after converting them into the first difference. The Panel Cointegration and Wester-Lund test examined the existence of long-run equilibrium nexus among selected variables in the context of G-20 countries. The study's findings show that there is a significant and negative relationship between renewable energy and CO2 emissions. It was proven in two models that the economic growth of selected G-20 countries has a positive relationship with CO2 emissions. Furthermore, findings indicate that the coefficient of financial development is positive and significantly impacts CO2 emissions. The remittances have a significant positive effect on CO2 emissions, while trade openness has an insignificant impact on CO2 emissions in both models. This research will enlighten policymakers, researchers, governments, and environmentalists toward attaining a sustainable environment by wisely consuming remittances and renewable energy resources.