Do natural resources heal the environment? Empirical evidence from Turkey

The increase in environmental degradation has rapidly enhanced the interest in the main determinants of CO2 emissions. Although many attempts have been exerted to discover the determinants of CO2 emissions, the impact of natural resources (NAT), which have significant environmental impacts on CO2 emissions, has been considerably neglected. To fulfill this gap in the literature, the study analyzes the impact of NAT on CO2 emissions covering the period 1975–2017 in Turkey. In addition, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, trade openness, and energy consumption are added in the model as explanatory variables. Findings from ARDL, FMOLS, and DOLS estimators indicate that the abundance of NAT is an important catalyst in reducing CO2 emissions. The results denote that the EKC is valid in Turkey. Furthermore, although the total energy consumption enhances CO2 emission, renewable energy reduces it. Thus, the increased use of NAT is important to improve the environmental quality in Turkey.