Assessing the Driving Factors of Carbon Dioxide and Total Greenhouse Gas Emissions to Maintain Environmental Sustainability in Southeastern Europe

Climate change became the most significant challenge as the world shifted towards environmental sustainability. Under this premise, the primary aim of this study is to investigate the impact of real GDP per capita, electricity consumption, trade openness, population, and financial development on the pollutant emissions within the Stochastic Impacts by regression on population, affluence and technology (STIRPAT) framework for Southeastern European (SEE) countries. The objective of this study is to cover not only the carbon dioxide emissions but also the overall estimates of greenhouse gas emissions by incorporating both the carbon dioxide and total greenhouse gas emissions as proxies of environmental degradation. Empirical results from fully modified ordinary least squares regression show that from 1997 to 2020, real GDP per capita, population and electricity consumption exhibited unfavourable effects on pollutant emissions. In contrast, trade openness revealed a favourable effect on pollutant emissions.The evidence concerning the impact of financial development on pollutant emissions is mixed. The pooled mean group estimation also supports this. Moreover, the results of causality analysis disclose bidirectional causality between electricity consumption and pollutant emissions and between trade openness and pollutant emissions. However, a unidirectional causality from real GDP per capita to pollutant emissions is also revealed. The present study suggests that in the long-run, real GDP per capita, population and electricity consumption may adversely affect the environment in these SEE countries. Thus, the transformation toward renewable energy and energy-efficient technology is needed to sustain long-term economic growth.