Analysis of nighttime aerosols and relation to covariates over a highly polluted sub-Saharan site using Mann-Kendall and wavelet coherence approach.

High emissions of aerosols and trace gases during nighttime can cause serious air quality, climate, and health issues, particularly in extremely polluted cities. In this paper, an effort has been made to examine the variations in aerosols and trace gases over a sub-Saharan city of Ilorin (Nigeria) during nighttime. We have used Aerosol Robotic Network data of aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 500 nm, Angstrom exponent (AE) (440/870), and precipitable water (WVC). Both AE and WVC showed a decreasing trend of -0.0012% and -0.0010% per year, respectively. We also analyzed nighttime data of carbon monoxide (CO), methane (CH4 ), and ozone (O3 ) from Atmospheric Infrared Sounder and aerosol subtypes from CALIPSO (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar and Infrared Pathfinder Satellite Observation). AOD, AE, and WVC average values are found to be 0.64 ± 0.33, 0.74 ± 0.24, and 3.40 ± 0.97, respectively. As a result of northeasterly winds carrying Saharan dust during the dry season, the greatest value of AOD (1.29) was observed in February. Desert dust aerosols (37.63%) were the most prevalent type, followed by mixed aerosols (44.15%). Winds at a height of 1500 m above ground level were likely transporting Saharan dust to Ilorin. CALIPSO images revealed that Ilorin's atmosphere contained dust, polluted continental, clean maritime, and polluted dust on high AOD days. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's vertical sounding profiles showed that the presence of high AOD values was caused by the inversion layer trapping aerosol pollution. Average nighttime concentrations of CO, O3 , and CH4 were measured to be 127 ± 18, 29.7 ± 2.1, and 1822.6 ± 12.7 ppbv, respectively. The wavelet coherence spectra exhibited significant quasi-biannual and quasi-annual oscillations at statistically significant levels.

Classification of aerosols using particle linear depolarization ratio (PLDR) over seven urban locations of Asia.

Active lidar remote sensing has been used to obtain detailed and quantitative information about the properties of aerosols. We have analyzed the spatio-temporal classification of aerosols using the parameters of particle linear depolarization ratio and single scattering albedo from Aerosol Robotic Network (AERONET) over seven megacities of Asia namely; Lahore, Karachi, Kanpur, Pune, Beijing, Osaka, and Bandung. We find that pollution aerosols dominate during the winter season in all the megacities. The concentrations, however, vary concerning the locations, i.e., 70-80% pollution aerosols are present over Lahore, 40-50% over Karachi, 90-95% over Kanpur and Pune, 60-70% and over Beijing and Osaka. Pure Dust (PD), Pollution Dominated Mixture (PDM), and Dust Dominated Mixture (DDM) are found to be dominant during spring and summer seasons.This proposes that dust over Asia normally exists as a mixture with pollution aerosols instead of pure form. We also find that black carbon (BC) dominated pollution aerosols.

Analyzing the linkages of rural tourism, GDP, energy utilization, and environment: Exploring a sustainable path for China.

Rural tourism spurs economic growth and jobs but harms the Environment due to energy demands. The study accounts for energy use, globalization, and economic growth to assess and mitigate rural tourism's environmental impact. For data covering 2001Q1 to 2019Q4, GMM approaches are utilized to analyze the environmental implications of rural tourist enterprises. The findings suggest that rural tourism-related catering services increased substantial and positive overall environmental quality, except N2O. However, food and beverage services negatively influence greenhouse gas emissions and only PM2.5 in air pollution. Sightseeing hurts greenhouse gas emissions while having a positive impact on air pollution. Furthermore, traveling has a considerable negative influence on CO emissions in air pollutants. Energy use only has a substantial influence on CO2 and CO, but GDP has a negative impact on N2O emissions. Globalization has a negative impact on CO2 and air pollutants other than PM2.5. Catering services associated with rural tourism positively affect overall environmental quality, excluding N2O emissions. Rural tourism's food and beverage services harm greenhouse gas emissions (including CO2) and air pollution (particularly PM2.5). Traveling has a significant negative impact on CO emissions, but sightseeing has a dual impact, both negative on greenhouse gas emissions and positive influence on air pollution. Furthermore, shopping and leisure have little impact on overall environmental quality in China. The crucial efforts' policy ramifications are addressed as well.

Analyzing the impacts of renewable energy, patents, and trade on carbon emissions-evidence from the novel method of MMQR.

Achieving sustainable development necessitates proactive measures to mitigate the economy's negative impact on environmental standards. A new empirical association between renewable energy patent innovation and net international trade on carbon emissions in ASEAN countries from 1990 to 2021 is presented, along with its significance. Using present panel data techniques, this study investigates the connections between these factors. Second-generation cointegration and unit root tests, as well as a novel method of Moments Quantile Regression, are used in the econometric procedure. Compared to standard quantile regression, this method is more resistant to outliers and provides an asymmetric relationship between the variables. The findings show that trade increases carbon emissions in countries with medium to high emissions, that patent innovation contributes to increasing emissions, and that renewable energy mitigates carbon emissions in countries with low to medium emerging economies. Our results are consistent with other specifications, including quantile regression canay (Canay 2011), fully modified, dynamic, and fixed effect regressions, proving the EKC hypothesis. These countries need to prioritize greener products and adopt advanced manufacturing technologies to reduce carbon emissions from consumption. However, as prosperity increases, it also leads to higher consumption-based carbon emissions, worsening ecological damage in the region. Implementing policies like trade synchronization and increasing investment in patent innovations are proposed in this study to lower the current level of carbon emissions.

Transportation in Africa under Paris Agreement 2 °C goal-a review of electric vehicle potentials, cleaner alternative fuels for the sector, challenges, and opportunities.

Currently, internal combustion engines and fossil fuels are the major powertrains and fuels for the transportation sector, despite their enormous emissions. This study reviews the status of electric vehicles (EVs) in Africa, the potential barriers that affect their large-scale adoption, and the continent's potential to produce cleaner alternative fuels for transportation and find the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) to produce alternative fuels in Africa. First, the review looked at challenges confronting the adoption of EVs in Africa, some of which include high upfront costs, poor grid systems, frequent blackouts, inadequate infrastructure (roads and charging systems), and the dominance of used conventional vehicles. The various cleaner alternative fuels, i.e., hydrogen, biogas, ethanol, methanol, ammonia, biodiesel, and vegetable oils, and their potential on the African continent were also reviewed. The last section of the study employed the SWOT analytical tool to assess the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats in the alternative fuel industry in Africa. Factors such as competition from existing technologies, inadequate funding, feeble linkages between research and production, unsustainable policies for the sector, cultural constraints and lack of awareness, volatile financial systems, and low levels of foreign direct investment are some of the identified threats that could affect the development of alternative fuels in Africa. Similarly, factors such as the continuous decline in the cost of renewable energy technologies and heightened awareness of the adverse effects of GHG on the environment were identified as opportunities for the development of alternative fuels for the transport sector.

Assessment of variability in PM2.5 and its impact on human health in a West African country.

PM2.5 has become a global challenge threatening human health, climate, and the environment. PM2.5 is ranked as the most common cause of premature mortality and morbidity. Therefore, the current study endeavors to probe the spatiodynamic characteristics of PM2.5 in the Republic of Niger and its impacts on human health from 1998 to 2019. Based on remotely sensed satellite datasets, the study found that the concentration of PM2.5 continued to rise in Niger from 68.85 µg/m3 in 1998 to 70.47 µg/m3 in 2019. During the study period, the annual average PM2.5 concentration is far above the WHO guidelines and the interim target-1 (35 µg/m3). The overall annual growth rate of PM2.5 concentration in Niger is 0.02 µg/m3/year. The health risk (HR) due to PM2.5 exposure is also escalated in Niger, particularly, in Southern Niger. The extent of the extremely high-risk areas corresponding to 1 × 104-9.4 × 105 µg.persons/m3 is increased from 0.9% (2000) to 2.8% (2019). Niamey, southern Dakoro, Mayahi, Tessaoua, Mirriah, Magaria, Matameye, Aguié, Madarounfa, Groumdji, Madaoua, Bouza, Keita, eastern Tahoua, eastern Illéla, Bkomnni, southern Dogon-Doutchi, Gaya, eastern Boboye, central Kollo, and western Tillabéry are experienced high HR due to long-term exposure to PM2.5. These findings indicate that PM2.5 causes a serious health risk across Niger. There is an immediate need to carry out its regional control. Therefore, policymakers and the Nigerien government should make conscious efforts to identify the priority target areas with radically innovative appropriate mitigation interventions.

How military spending, economic growth, and renewable energy impacts ecological footprints in Next Eleven nations.

The objective of this study is to investigate the association between military spending and environmental sustainability within the N-11 countries. There exists a strong correlation between sustainable economic expansion and energy consumption, which in turn results in the generation of elevated levels of carbon emissions. Moreover, it is plausible that a correlation exists between military spending and the degradation of the environment. The primary objective of this study is to examine the emissions of carbon and emissions of greenhouse gases in the N-11 countries, as these nations exhibit comparatively elevated levels of such emissions. Therefore, this study examines the correlation among economic growth, militarization, renewable energy, and environment in the Next Eleven nations from 1990 to 2022. The cross-section autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) model is employed to analyze the enduring and immediate connections between variables. Empirical evidence indicates that a country's environment is positively influenced by GDP and militarization. The escalation of military capital intensity has exacerbated the environmental damage. Increasing the adoption of renewable energy sources can mitigate negative environmental impacts over time. This study proposes policy recommendations for sustainable development, including reducing militarization and improving the use of clean energy.

Analyzing the contribution of renewable energy and natural resources for sustainability in G-20 countries: How gross capital formation impacts ecological footprints.

Sustainability ensures well-being for people and communities worldwide and helps shape the world's present and future. A global transformation is required by adopting renewable energy sources to achieve sustainability. Sustainability trends have been examined using this study for the period 1992-2018 for G20 countries. The study uses indicators like ecological footprints, natural resources, renewable energy (RE), and non-renewable energy (NRE), along with gross domestic product (GDP) and capital formation. A cross-sectional-ARDL approach has been used to examine short- and long-term relationships. The presence of stationarity property, cross-sectional dependence, panel cointegration, and slope heterogeneity have been confirmed during initial testing. The empirical result confirms that using renewable energy impacts environmental sustainability in the long run and causes a decrease in ecological footprints. On the contrary, non-renewable energy and natural resources contribute to the negative shift in sustainable development. The consistency of results has also been confirmed using robustness checks under the AMG and FMOLS approaches. The study concludes that G20 countries should promote renewable energy to empower the United Nations' agenda for sustainable development.

Assessing the connection between competitive industrial performance on load capacity factor within the LCC framework: Implications for sustainable policy in BRICS economies.

Industrialization plays a crucial role in socio-economic development as it holds significant potential for creating new jobs, tightening the income gap, and promoting the use of advanced technology. As global competition intensifies, emerging economies emulate industrialized economies in accelerating manufacturing activity to improve national welfare and join the new global order. However, policymakers' understanding of how competitiveness in the industrial sector helps developing countries accomplish their sustainable development goals must be deepened. This paper aims to analyze the connections among competitive industrial performance, renewable energy consumption, urbanization, and load capacity factor (LCF) in the BRICS economies for the period between 1990 and 2018. Robust evidence from the continuously updated fully modified (CUP-FM) and continuously updated bias-corrected (CUP-BC) models shows that greater industrial competitiveness enhances environmental quality. The findings also reveal that income growth ultimately evolves as an ecologically friendly factor, confirming the validity of the load capacity curve (LCC) hypothesis. Another outcome of the econometric analysis indicates that renewable energy consumption contributes to the LCF, whereas urbanization damages the environment. Therefore, BRICS policymakers should concentrate on maintaining their competitiveness, implementing resilient urban planning, and promoting the usage of renewable energy to safeguard the environment while simultaneously achieving rapid economic growth.

Analyzing the validity of load capability curve: how economic complexity, renewable energy, R&D, and communication technologies take their part in G-20 countries.

Intense anthropogenic contamination of the air, water, and soil inspires scholars to examine the causes of pollution and provide remedies to assure environmental sustainability. Therefore, researchers in this study are driven to investigate the causes of the severe air, water, and soil contamination that has resulted from human activity and to offer recommendations for achieving environmental sustainability. This research contributes to the ecological works by suggesting the load capability curve (LCH) hypothesis and using the load capacity factor (LC) to investigate components influencing climatic quality. The LC enables thorough climatic value examination when comparing ecological footprint and biocapacity. Information and communication technologies (INF), development and research (R&D), renewable energy (RE) usage, and disposable income are all examined, considering their effects on the load capacity factor. This analysis utilizes the cross-sectionally augmented autoregressive distributed lag estimator and the Westerlund cointegration on data for the G-20 countries from 1995 to 2018. Empirical evidence suggests that renewables, R&D spending, economic complexity, and INF all benefit environmental quality. This study cannot support the LCH hypothesis, which states that increasing income worsens ecological conditions up to a certain point but then aids in improving environmental quality afterward. Based on the findings, G-20 governments should prioritize environmental policies that boost economic growth, spread renewable energy, prioritize research and development spending, and assist the implementation of green INF infrastructure.

How do natural resources and economic growth impact load capacity factor in selected Next-11 countries? Assessing the role of digitalization and government stability.

With growing environmental concerns, everyone's attention has shifted to how we use our limited materials supplies. Rapid economic expansion is dependent on heavy resource use, decreasing biodiversity and raising the ecological footprints (EF), resulting in a reduction in the load capacity factor (LCF). Because of this, scholars and policymakers are actively looking for approaches to improve the LCF without hindering economic growth (GDP). For similar reasons, this research aims at how the selected next eleven economies improved their LCF from 1990 to 2018 by analyzing the effect of digitalization (DIG), natural resources (NAT), GDP, globalization, and governance. To account for dependence across sections and slope variation, the cross-sectional augmented ARDL model is used in this research. The long-term findings indicate that LCF was diminished by dependence on NAT, globalization, and economic growth and was bolstered by DIG and sound governance. The work recommends that financial and policy support is needed for initiatives such as zero-emission vehicle production and energy-efficient building construction. By offering a line of credit at low interest rates, renewable energy projects can attract domestic and private investors.

A causal link between financialization and ecological status: a novel framework for Asian countries?

Sustainable finance and green trade are essential to accomplish the green growth agenda. Though the literature prevails, little is known about the inclusive influence of financialization and trade openness on ecological status rather than just focusing on air pollution or inconclusive element. This study aims to analyze the role of financial dimensions and trade openness with environmental performance in the context of three panels of Asian countries consisting of low, middle, and high-income over the period 1990-2020. The estimated outcomes from the novel panel, the Granger non-causality technique, demonstrate that financialization further contributes to environmental deterioration instead of preserving the environmental quality. Regarding the low and middle-income economies, the authorities should enhance gains from trade openness to develop energy efficiency and ecological status policies. In the case of high-income Asian countries, they are even more desperate to consume energy and ignore the ecological challenges. The findings of this research offer various policy suggestions to accomplish sustainable development objectives.

The impact of economic growth, tourism, natural resources, technological innovation on carbon dioxide emission: evidence from BRICS countries.

The main objective of this manuscript was to investigate the relationships among economic development, tourism, the use of natural resources, technical advancement, and carbon dioxide emissions in the BRICS group of nations. Data from the panel was gathered from 1995 to 2018. Modern methodology tools including the CS-ARDL tests, Westerlund cointegration tests, and panel data unit root tests have been used in this study. Results of the models show that all the variables were transformed to the first difference to make it stationary. The Westerlund model test results suggest that dependent and independent variables have robust cointegration. Results of the CS-ARDL models reveal that all the variables signed, and significance are aligned with the economic theory. It indicates that except for tourism, the rest of the variables like technical innovation, natural resources, and economic growth have positive and significant effects on carbon dioxide emissions both in the short and long runs. Additionally, a 1% rise in economic growth, technical innovation, and natural resources over the long term would raise carbon dioxide emissions in the BRICS economies by 1.79%, 0.15%, and 0.10%, respectively. However, a 1% increase in tourism would result in a 0.39% decrease in carbon dioxide emissions among the nations in the panel data set. Therefore, the promotion of sustainable tourism and advancement in technological innovation is highly important in these countries, so the high impact of environmental degradation pressure may reduce to some extent. An in-addition comprehensive set of policies should be made on encouraging low-carbon transportation, promoting sustainable tourism certification, boosting local produce, reducing waste management, and provide education and awareness campaigns to tourists.

Analysis of aerosol optical depth and relation to covariates during pre-monsoon season (2002-2019) over Pakistan using ARIMAX model and cross-wavelet analysis.

The pre-monsoon season heavily influences the precipitation amount in Pakistan. When hydrometeorological parameters interact with aerosols from multiple sources, a radiative climatic response is observed. In this study, aerosol optical depth (AOD) space-time dynamics were analyzed in relation to meteorological factors and surface parameters during the pre-monsoon season in the years 2002-2019 over Pakistan. Level-3 (L3) monthly datasets from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR) were used. Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) derived monthly precipitation, Atmospheric Infrared Sounder (AIRS) derived air temperature, after moist relative humidity (RH) from Modern-Era Retrospective analysis for Research and Applications, Version-2 (MERRA-2), near-surface wind speed, and soil moisture data derived from Global Land Data Assimilation System (GLDAS) were also used on a monthly time scale. For AOD trend analysis, Mann-Kendall (MK) trend test was applied. Moreover, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average with Explanatory variable (ARIMAX) technique was applied to observe the actual and predicted AOD trend, as well as test the multicollinearity of AOD with covariates. The periodicities of AOD were analyzed using continuous wavelet transformation (CWT) and the cross relationships of AOD with prevailing covariates on a time-frequency scale were analyzed by wavelet coherence analysis. A high variation of aerosols was observed in the spatiotemporal domain. The MK test showed a decreasing trend in AOD which was most significant in Baluchistan and Punjab, and the overall trend differs between MODIS and MISR datasets. ARIMAX model shows the correlation of AOD with varying meteorological and soil parameters. Wavelet analysis provides the abundance of periodicities in the 2-8 months periodic cycles. The coherency nature of the AOD time series along with other covariates manifests leading and lagging effects in the periodicities. Through this, a notable difference was concluded in space-time patterns between MODIS and MISR datasets. These findings may prove useful for short-term and long-term studies including oscillating features of AOD and covariates.

Evaluating the impact of digitalization, renewable energy use, and technological innovation on load capacity factor in G8 nations.

Ecosystems are in danger due to human-caused air, water, and soil pollution, so it is important to find the underlying causes of this issue and develop practical solutions. This study adds to environmental research gap by suggesting the load capability factor (LCF) and using it to look at the factors affectting environmental health. The load capacity factor simplifies monitoring environmental health by illustrating the distinction between ecological footprint and biocapacity. We examine the interplay between mobile phone users (Digitalization DIG), technological advancements (TEC), renewable energy use, economic growth, and financial development. This study assesses G8 economies' data from 1990 to 2018, using a Cross-Section Improved Autoregressive Distributed Lag CS-ARDL estimator and a cointegration test. The data shows that green energy, TEC innovation, and DIG are all beneficial for natural health. Based on the results of this study, the G8 governments should focus on environmental policies that promote economic growth, increase the use of renewable energy sources, guide technological progress in key areas, and encourage the development of digital information and communications technologies that are better for the environment.

How institutional quality and renewable energy interact with ecological footprints: do the human capital and economic complexity matter in the Next Eleven nations?

Changes in the economy and human conduct have contributed to one of today's most urgent challenges: environmental pollution. This study's overarching objective is to evaluate the following Next Eleven nations (N-11) ecological footprints (EF) with their natural resources (NR), economic complexity (EC), renewable energy (RE), and foreign direct investment (FDI). The data from 1995 to 2018 are used with the panel data estimations. The complexity of an economy is found to influence the EF. For this purpose, the cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag method is appropriate. The analysis shows that a higher degree of economic complexity was associated with a larger ecological impact. Moreover, this correlation was the highest among all the variables considered. However, the consumption of natural resources and the economies' complexity enhance environmental conditions. The key recommendation from the study's conclusions is to improve R&D activities to build environmentally friendly technology and clean energy infrastructures and to change to a clean industry pattern. Meanwhile, strategic initiatives are offered to legislators depending on the stability of institutional quality.

How human capital and energy prices play their role to enhance renewable energy: defining the role of innovations and trade openness in G-11 countries.

It is crucial to switch from nonrenewable energy to renewable energy sources to improve environmental quality. For this reason, innovations play a crucial part, yet the use of renewable energy is insufficient. This work contributes to the literature by Using both aggregate and disaggregated data, this study investigates the relationship between energy consumption, trade openness, human capital (HCA), and innovations in G11 nations. This study analyzed yearly data from 1990 to 2020 using empirical methods of augmented mean group (AMG) and cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL) techniques. The findings highlight the significance of human capital, energy pricing, and innovations in fostering the growth of renewable energy in G-11 nations. A 1% increase in GDP and trade openness will enhance total energy consumption by 0.47% and 0.07%. GDP and trade are also increasing non and renewable energy consumption. A 1% increase in human capital and eco-innovations are increasing renewable energy by reducing non-renewable energy consumption. In addition, the G-11's rising commerce and GDP have increased their reliance on energy sources that rely on fossil fuels. The authors of this study suggest raising HCA as a means of encouraging the G-11 to use cleaner forms of energy. The need to bolster renewable energy to achieve a cleaner environment in the G-11 countries.

Exploring the roles of green finance and environmental regulations on CO2es: defining the roles of social and economic globalization in the next eleven nations.

Achieving sustainable environmental growth and preventing further environmental degradation are challenging goals for policymakers. This study looks at environmental laws and green finance's role in fostering a more sustainable environment. The literature still needs to empirically or theoretically investigate how environmental laws and green financing affect carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, particularly when combined with moderating factors such as social and economic globalization. As a result, this study investigates how environmental laws and green funding can help the N-11 nations cut their CO2 emissions. Our research uses empirical data from a group of the N-11 nations that span the years 2000 to 2019. To handle issues with panel data analysis, such as cross-sectional dependence and slope heterogeneity, we use advanced panel approaches (CIPS and CADF unit root and cointegration test and cross-sectional augmented ARDL). This research demonstrates that green financing (GFI) and environmental laws (ENV) have a negative but significant effect on CO2 emissions. While social globalization moderates the causal relationship between energy consumption and GDP while negatively and significantly causing GFI and ENV with CO2 emissions among the N-11 countries, economic growth has had a positive and significant effect on CO2 emissions in the N-11 countries. According to our research, nations could achieve the SDG-7 and SDG-13 goals if they adopted green financial and environmental policies.

Long term spatiotemporal trends and health risk assessment of remotely sensed PM2.5 concentrations in Nigeria.

PM2.5 is an important indicator reflecting air quality variations. Currently, environmental pollution related issues have become more severe that significantly threaten human health. The current study is an attempt to analyze the spatio-dynamic characteristics of PM2.5 in Nigeria based on the directional distribution and trend clustering analysis from 2001 to 2019. The results indicated that PM2.5 concentration increased in most of the Nigerian states, particularly in mid-northern and southern states. The lowest PM2.5 concentration in Nigeria is even beyond the interim target-1 (35 µg/m3) of the WHO. During the study period, the average PM2.5 concentration increased at a growth rate of 0.2 µg/m3/yr from 69 µg/m3 to 81 µg/m3. The growth rate varied from region to region. Kano, Jigawa, Katsina, Bauchi, Yobe, and Zamfara experienced the fastest growth rate of 0.9 µg/m3/yr with 77.9 µg/m3 mean concentration. The median center of the national average PM2.5 moved toward the north indicating the highest PM2.5 concentration in northern states. The Saharan desert dust is the dominant source of PM2.5 in northern areas. Moreover, agricultural practices and deforestation activities along with low rainfall increase desertification and air pollution in these regions. Health risks increased in most of the mid-northern and southern states. The extent of ultra-high health risk (UHR) areas corresponding to the 8×104-7.3×106 µg⋅person/m3 increased from 1.5% to 2.8%. Mainly Kano, Lagos, Oyo, Edo, Osun, Ekiti, southeastern Kwara, Kogi, Enugu, Anambra, Northeastern Imo, Abia, River, Delta, northeastern Bayelsa, Akwa Ibom, Ebonyi, Abuja, Northern Kaduna, Katsina, Jigawa, central Sokoto, northeastern Zamfara, central Borno, central Adamawa, and northwestern Plateau are under UHR areas.

Defining the roles of socio-economic factors and bureaucratic quality to minimize the impacts of fossil fuels consumption on CO2 emissions in G-20 countries.

G-20 nations are committed to reducing CO2 emissions considering their commitments to the United Nations. Therefore, this work investigates the associations between bureaucratic quality, socio-economic factors, fossil fuel consumption, and CO2 emissions from 1990 to 2020. To counter the problem of cross-sectional dependence, this work applies to cross-sectional autoregressive distributed lag (CS-ARDL). The valid second-generation methodologies are applied, and the results cannot be found in the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC). Fossil fuels (coal, gas, oil) exert a negative impact on environmental quality. The direct impact of bureaucratic quality and socio-economic factors are suitable to lower CO2 emissions. A 1% increase in bureaucratic quality and socio-economic factors will lower CO2 emissions by 0.174% and 0.078% respectively in the long run. The indirect effect of bureaucratic quality and socio-economic factors is significant in reducing the CO2 emissions created by fossil fuels. The wavelet plots also validate these findings that bureaucratic quality is important to lower environmental pollution in 18 G-20 member countries. Considering the findings, this research presents important policy instruments that there is a need to bring clean energy sources into the total energy mix. For this purpose, it is important to improve bureaucratic quality to speed up the decision-making process for clean energy infrastructural development.