Impact of international trade, energy consumption and income on environmental degradation in Africa's OPEC member countries

The huge endowment, exploitation and trading of carbon content energy resources by the African OPEC member countries for economic expansion substantiate the fears of increasing global warming and environmental degradation. This study explores the dynamic effects of trade flows, energy consumption and per capita income on environmental degradation in seven of Africa's OPEC member countries (Algeria, Angola, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Libya and Nigeria), within the framework of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and the pollution haven hypothesis (PHH). By employing the bootstrap panel cointegration test and the PMG/ARDL estimation technique on panel data spanning from 1990 to 2017, the empirical results show a positive but insignificant effect of trade flows on environmental degradation. The results further show that while renewable energy dampens environmental degradation, non-renewable energy exerts upward pressure on environmental degradation. In addition, the results provide evidence in support of a U-shaped EKC in the long run. The study, therefore, recommends the expansion of renewable energy consumption to ensure not only environmental sustainability but also to attain the regional goal of sustainable development.