Environmental Kuznets Curve and the Relationship between Energy Consumption, Economic Growth and CO2 Emissions in Malaysia

The paper examines the impact of energy consumption and economic growth on CO2 emissions in Malaysia, covering 1965-2015 period. Simple ordinary least squares technique was employed to achieve the objective. The result indicated that CO2 emission decreases with an increase in income and increases with an increase in trade openness. While environmental Kuznets curve is nonexistent. We therefore recommended that CO2 mitigation policies should be prioritized. Keywords: CO2 emissions, energy consumption, economic growth, OL

The determinants of Nigeria's forest products trade balance

This paper examines the cointegration relationship between forest products trade balance and its determinants in Nigeria using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach. The results revealed that the variables were cointegrated. In the long run, domestic and foreign incomes have significant negative and positive impacts on the trade balance, respectively, whereas exchange rate has an insignificant impact on trade balance. In the short run, both domestic and foreign income have significant negative impacts on the trade balance. In addition, the coefficient of exchange rate also shows significant negative impact, which supports one of the assumptions of J-curve hypothesis and Marshall-Lerner condition. J-curve existence was tested, and it was revealed that it does not exist in the case of Nigeria’s trading in forest products. The results of variable decompositions and generalized impulse response tests further confirmed the earlier findings. Hence, Nigeria may have to adopt policies that are income related or growth driven to improve its forest products’ trade balance. This is because of the significant role of income variables in influencing changes in the trade balance revealed through the study

J-curve effect and Thailand's trade in forest products: ARDL bounds testing

This paper tried to check for J-curve existence in Thailand's trade in forest products with the rest of the world. An ARDL approach to cointegration has been employed to specify trade balance model from trade equation based on the theory. Prior to the test for J-curve existence, pre-testing for unit root and cointegration test ware conducted. The results show that all the variables became stationary at first difference and cointegration exists among them. We have also assessed both the short run and long run relationships between Thailand's trade balance and its various determinants stated in the equation. The result (both in the short run and long run) shows that sustainable forest management policy's coefficients gave the expected results; income coefficients also gave expected results while the exchange rate coefficients gave contrary results as against the expected. However, the result of the J-curve effect test indicates that there are no signs of its existence and hence we concluded that it does not exists in the case Thailand's trade in forest products

Can clean biomass energy use lower CO 2 emissions in African economies? Empirical evidence from dynamic long-run panel framework

This paper seeks to answer an empirical question of whether clean biomass energy consumption lowers CO2 emissions while controlling for technical innovation in eight selected countries from Africa for the 1980-2015 period. The countries which are chosen based on availability of data on biomass energy and technological innovation include Egypt, Algeria, South Africa, Mauritius, Kenya, Morocco, Tunisia, and Zambia. Applying pooled mean group, mean group, and dynamic fixed effect panel estimators, the results indicate that clean biomass energy use decreases CO2 emission in the long run. But the effect of biomass energy consumption on CO2 emission is insignificant in the short run. The findings imply that CO2 emission can be reduced by increasing clean biomass energy in the energy mix of these countries. Similarly, environmental quality and economic growth can be achieved simultaneously by increasing the share of biomass energy in large-scale production process. Furthermore, the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), which hypothesizes an inverted U-shaped relationship between CO2 emission and economic growth, was validated in the long run. This suggests that the EKC pattern is only observed in the long run. Thus, as part of recommendation from this study, policy makers in these countries should formulate more policies that will enhance clean biomass energy production and its usage to substitute significant percentage of fossil fuel use in production process

The relationship between CO2 emission, energy consumption and economic growth in Malaysia: a three-way linkage approach

This study examines the three-way linkage relationships between CO2 emission, energy consumption and economic growth in Malaysia, covering the 1975–2015 period. An autoregressive distributed lag approach was employed to achieve the objective of the study and gauged by dynamic ordinary least squares. Additionally, vector error correction model, variance decompositions and impulse response functions were employed to further examine the relationship between the interest variables. The findings show that economic growth is neither influenced by energy consumption nor by CO2 emission. Energy consumption is revealed to be an increasing function of CO2 emission. Whereas, CO2 emission positively and significantly depends on energy consumption and economic growth. This implies that CO2 emission increases with an increase in both energy consumption and economic growth. Conclusively, the main drivers of CO2 emission in Malaysia are proven to be energy consumption and economic growth. Therefore, renewable energy sources ought to be considered by policy makers to curb emission from the current non-renewable sources. Wind and biomass can be explored as they are viable sources. Energy efficiency and savings should equally be emphasised and encouraged by policy makers. Lastly, growth-related policies that target emission reduction are also recommended

Monetary Policy Rate, Interbank Rate, Savings Deposit and Inflation Rate in Nigeria: Evidence from ARDL Approach

This study investigated the impact of monetary policy rate, interbank rate and savings deposit on inflation rate in Nigeria over the period of January, 2006 – November, 2014. To achieve the objective, an autoregressive distributed lag model was employed to estimate both the long-run and short-run models. The result of the long-run model reveals that monetary policy rate, interbank rate and savings deposit were all negatively and significantly affecting inflation rate within the studied period. In similar vein, in the short-run, monetary policy rate and interbank rates were negative and significant in determining inflation fluctuations. Though savings deposit depicts positive sign but was found to be insignificant in the short-run. As such, both long-and short-run findings were in conformity with the theoretical expectations. Therefore, the policy suggestion is that the central bank of Nigeria (CBN) should consider strengthening the use these policy instruments in controlling inflation shocks in Nigeria. Key words: Monetary policy rate, interbank rate, savings rate, inflation rate, ARDL approac

Renewable energy consumption and economic growth nexus: a fresh evidence from West Africa

This paper estimates the impact of renewable energy on economic growth in West African countries using panel dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) by employing a sample of 15 West African countries covering the 1995-2014 period. The results indicated that renewable energy consumption slows down economic growth in these countries. This is attributed to the nature and source of renewable energy used in West Africa, which is majorly wood biomass. The wood biomasses used in West Africa are usually unclean and highly polluting when burnt. On the other hand, the use of clean energy sources like solar, wind and hydropower which does not have a side effect on human health and the environment is less in West Africa. As such, renewable energy use can slow down economic growth by lowering productivity when unclean and inefficient sources are used. The study recommends that (1) cleaner technologies should be employed to optimize the benefits of wood biomass as a renewable source of energy while minimizing its adverse effects; (2) the share of other renewable energy components such as solar, wind and geothermal should be increased in the renewable energy mix of the sub-region of West Africa and (3) greater commitment to achieving sustainable renewable energy by West African authorities is needed

Balancing the scales: Achieving food security and environmental sustainability in Malaysia through integrated approaches and collaborative governance

Food security and environmental sustainability are significant challenges in Malaysia. Malaysia intends to improve food security by expanding domestic food production and increasing access to nutritious food. However, the country also acknowledges the importance of environmental sustainability in protecting its various ecosystems and natural resources. The imbalance between food security and environmental sustainability faced environmental deterioration, water scarcity and pollution, biodiversity loss, greenhouse gas emissions, land use disputes, and food waste. This study explores the issues and challenges of balancing the need for food security and environmental sustainability. An in-depth interview was conducted with saturated data collection, compromising insights from five (5) respondents who are government officers related to food security and environmental sustainability. This study found that Malaysia has implemented several policies, integrated techniques, and collaborative solutions to promote sustainable agricultural systems and environmental preservation. These findings are crucial to balance the scales between food security and environmental sustainability

Climate Change and its Economic Impact on Sustainable Agricultural Production in Malaysia: An aggregate Analysis

Sustainable agricultural production in Malaysia is under climate change’s threat. Several climate-driven factors such as heat waves, irregular and excessive rainfall patterns, storms, and floods are the current worries of many farmers in the country and these factors put together put their livelihood in jeopardy. Future predictions indicated a significant further variability in climatic patterns with irregular rainfall. This study aims to investigate the economic impact of climate change on agricultural production in Malaysia by aggregating all agricultural productions over the 1990 – 2021 period. A time series econometric method called autoregressive and distributed lag (ARDL) method was utilised to achieve the study’s objective. The result of the study revealed that climate change has statistically significant negative impact on agricultural production in Malaysia. This implies that food production through agricultural production in the country is being adversely affected by climate change. As such, climate change mitigating strategies are strongly recommended with strict implementation to ensure sustainable agricultural production. Other recommendations include the practice of agroforestry, planting of climate resilient plants, crop rotation, and the use of soil smart technology. These actions will assist in minimising the adverse effect of climate change on agricultural production and indirectly boost food production

Wood fuel consumption and mortality rates in Sub-Saharan Africa: evidence from a dynamic panel study

This study examined the impact of wood fuel consumption on health outcomes, specifically under-five and adult mortality in Sub-Saharan Africa, where wood usage for cooking and heating is on the increase. Generalized method of moment (GMM) estimators were used to estimate the impact of wood fuel consumption on under-five and adult mortality (and also male and female mortality) in the region. The findings revealed that wood fuel consumption had significant positive impact on under-five and adult mortality. It suggests that over the studied period, an increase in wood fuel consumption has increased the mortality of under-five and adult. Importantly, it indicated that the magnitude of the effect of wood fuel consumption was more on the under-five than the adults. Similarly, assessing the effect on a gender basis, it was revealed that the effect was more on female than male adults. This finding suggests that the resultant mortality from wood smoke related infections is more on under-five children than adults, and also are more on female adults than male adults. We, therefore, recommended that an alternative affordable, clean energy source for cooking and heating should be provided to reduce the wood fuel consumption