Main determinants for ecological footprint: an econometric perspective from G20 countries

Unsurprisingly, many studies consider CO2 emissions to capture the environment quality needed for testing the augmented environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. However, this is a major limitation of the existing literature because CO2 alone cannot account for environmental pollution. By employing a more comprehensive proxy ecological footprint, this study aims to examine EKC in G20 economies during 1991-2016. To achieve the objective, a second-generation panel data model was implemented, which accounted for the heterogeneity and cross-sectional dependence. The findings reveal that environmental degradation has an inverted N-shaped linkage with economic growth in the selected countries. It is further observed that globalization, renewable energy consumption, and urbanization improve the environmental quality, whereas non-renewable energy consumption mitigates the quality of environment in G20 countries. With these conclusions, it is suggested that policymakers from these countries should emphasize on more renewable energy usage.