Examining the energy consumption and CO2 emissions nexus in South Africa within the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis framework

The increasing amount of carbon dioxide emissions over the past two decades remains a major important developmental concern. Incidentally, the growing commitment by South Africa to achieve greater economic expansion has culminated into consistent increase in economic activities which invariably entail ever-increasing energy consumption and its associated inevitable stern implications on the quality and sustainability of environment especially on CO2 emissions. Clearly, these emissions, which emanate from sources such as transport, residential and commercial activities inter alia, are attributable mainly to human activities that are directly linked with economic growth (activities) and development. Yet, to date, growth in scale of economic activities appears not to have been matched by a comparable growth in environmental protection policies. In the wake of economic expansion and industrial activities in South Africa coupled with rising mining activities, population and rapid urbanisation; energy consumption/demand could be expected to rise monotonically in the years ahead, a situation that could have severe adverse implications on the environment. In this study, a comprehensive analysis is conducted to understand the drivers of CO2 emissions and the potential existence of the EKC hypothesis for various sources of CO2 emissions in South Africa, one of Africa's industrialized economies.