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Energy consumption, economic growth, and environmental sustainability challenges for Belt and Road countries: a fresh insight from “Chinese Going Global Strategy”

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Abstract

The present study investigated the impact of energy- and economy-related variables on CO2 emissions in 49 countries of the Belt and Road Initiative from 1995–2018. The robust type of cross-section dependence and heterogeneity methods was adopted to analyze data set of countries. Energy consumption, foreign direct investment, medium and high-tech industry, and GDP have been found highly unfavorable for the ecological health (CO2 emissions) in 49 nations on BRI panel. However, renewable energy consumption has been found in positive correlation with environmental quality (CO2). Financial development indicator has no significant impact on CO2 emissions in present study. The present outcomes clearly claim strong relationship of economic growth and energy with increased CO2 emissions in 49 nations. Therefore, it is important for policy makers, experts, and governments to incentivize and appreciate portfolio investors for sustainable green investments to transform the economic growth into a sustainable and energy efficient development.

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Data availability

The datasets generated and/or analyzed during the current study are available in the [World Bank] repository, [https://databank.worldbank.org/source/world-development-indicators].

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Acknowledgements

The authors wish to thank to the responsible editor and reviewers for their constructive and valuable comments for enhancing the quality of our manuscript.

Funding

“The study is supported by Startup foundation for introducing Foreign Talent (Changwang high level talents) for Binjiang College of Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, (NUIST), People’s Republic of China (EMP#100003); startup Fund (Grant No. 2020R068) for introducing Talent in Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, (NUIST), People’s Republic of China”.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Binjiang College, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, No 333, Xishan Road, Wuxi City, 214105, Jiangsu, China

    Abdul Jalil, Zhang Yonghong & Wang Tiebang

  2. School of Management Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science and Technology, Ningliu Road, Nanjing, 210044, Jiangsu, China

    Abdul Rauf

  3. College of Earth and Environmental Science, University of the Punjab, New Quaid-e-Azam Campus, Lahore, Pakistan

    Waqas Sikander

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  1. Abdul Jalil
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  2. Abdul Rauf
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  3. Waqas Sikander
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  4. Zhang Yonghong
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  5. Wang Tiebang
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Contributions

Conceptualization from Abdul Jalil and Abdul Rauf; data curation done by Waqas sikander and Abdul Rauf; formal analysis completed by Waqas Sikander and Wang Tiebang; methodology done by Abdul Jalil, Abdul Rauf, Waqas Sikander, and Wang Tiebang; project administration, Zhang Yonghong; resources, Zhang Yonghong; software, Abdul Rauf and Wang Tiebang; supervision, Zhang Yonghong; writing—original draft done by Abdul Jalil and Waqas Sikander; writing—review and editing, Abdul Rauf and Wang Tiebang. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Abdul Jalil or Abdul Rauf.

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Responsible Editor: Ilhan Ozturk

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Table 15 List of selected BRI countries
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Jalil, A., Rauf, A., Sikander, W. et al. Energy consumption, economic growth, and environmental sustainability challenges for Belt and Road countries: a fresh insight from “Chinese Going Global Strategy”. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 65987–65999 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15549-z

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