The nexus between renewable energy, economic growth, trade, urbanisation and environmental quality: a comparative study for Australia and Canada

The nexus between renewable energy, economic growth, trade, urbanisation and environmental quality: a comparative study for Australia and Canada

Using a comparative approach, this study examines the nexus among renewable energy 7 consumption, economic growth, trade, urbanisation and CO2 emissions for Australia and Canada 8 for the period 1960-2015. The Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds tests are used to 9 explore the long-run relationships amongst the selected variables and the causal relationships are 10 examined by the vector error correction model (VECM) Granger causality tests. The findings 11 suggest that there is evidence of the long run relationships amongst the variables. The results in 12 Australia indicate that in both the long run and short run, economic growth increases CO2 13 emissions, whereas in the short run, the trade and renewable energy consumptions decrease CO2 14 emissions. The VECM causality tests for Australia indicate that in the short-run, the economic 15 growth, trade, and renewable energy consumption Granger cause CO2 emissions; whereas the 16 long-run causal relationships are found among CO2 emissions, economic growth, trade and 17 renewable energy consumption. In the case of Canada, the results show that in both the long run 18 and short run, trade increases CO2 emissions, while in the long run the economic growth and 19 urban population increase CO2 emissions. The VECM causality analyses show the long-run 20 bidirectional causality among CO2 emissions, economic growth, and renewable energy 21 consumption. In addition, the CO2 emissions tended to decrease in Australia but not in Canada 22 after each country officially ratified the Kyoto Protocol in 2007 and 2002, respectively. Policy 23 recommendations are made based on these findings.

Files associated with this item cannot be displayed due to copyright restrictions.