Income, coal consumption, and the environmental Kuznets curve in Vietnam.

Concerns over adverse environmental effects have been raised due to Vietnam's reliance on fossil fuels like coal. At the same time, efforts are being made to boost the usage of renewable energy while simultaneously lowering greenhouse gas emissions. This study examines whether there is an environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) relationship between gross domestic product (GDP) and coal consumption in Vietnam by controlling for renewable energy consumption and oil prices from 1984 to 2021. We adopt the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework to explore a long-run level relationship between the study variables. We find that the GDP elasticity of coal demand has been greater than one since the 1990s and about 3.5 in recent years, indicating that the coal intensity of GDP has increased with economic growth. Thus, the GDP-coal consumption relationship resembles an upward-sloping curve instead of an inverted U-shaped EKC. This relationship is robust when we use other estimation methods and account for two additional independent variables. While a 1% rise in renewable energy consumption results in a 0.4% reduction in coal consumption, the impact of oil prices on coal consumption is negative but insignificant. The findings allow us to provide policy implications for the sustainable development of Vietnam: (1) more stringent policies, for example, enacting a carbon pricing scheme, are needed to reduce coal consumption; (2) policies should be implemented to make renewable energy sources more affordable; and (3) as facing high oil prices, the country should diversify its energy mix by expanding the usage of renewable energy.

Do energy consumption and environmental quality enhance subjective wellbeing in G20 countries?

G20 countries are responsible for more than 80% of global energy consumption and the largest CO2 emissions in the world. Literature related to the energy consumption-environmental quality-subjective wellbeing nexus is limited and lacks consensus. This paper analyses the impact of energy consumption and environmental quality on subjective wellbeing in G20 countries from 2006 to 2019 using a panel-corrected standard error (PCSE) model. Cantril life ladder data is used as a proxy of subjective wellbeing. For robustness, the Newey-West standard error model is used. The findings reveal that renewable energy consumption and environmental quality, i.e. lesser carbon emissions, enhance subjective wellbeing in G20 countries. In contrast, non-renewable energy consumption degrades subjective wellbeing. Moreover, the study also finds bidirectional causality between renewable energy consumption, non-renewable energy consumption, and economic growth. The policymakers of these countries should encourage renewable energy production and its consumption to reduce carbon emissions for conserving the environment and enhancing their people's subjective wellbeing.

Impact of climate change on cereal production: evidence from lower-middle-income countries.

This study empirically examines the impact of climate change on cereal production in selected lower-middle-income countries with a balanced panel dataset spanning 1971-2016. The study uses average annual temperature and rainfall to measure climate change. Besides this, CO2 emissions, cultivated land under cereal production, and rural population are used as the control variables. Second-generation unit root tests, i.e., CIPS and CADF, are used to test the stationarity of the variables. Feasible generalized least square (FGLS) and fully modified ordinary least square (FMOLS) models are used to achieve the objective. Pedroni cointegration test confirms the presence of cointegration between cereal production and climate change variables. The findings show that a rise in the temperature reduces cereal production in lower-middle-income countries. In contrast, rainfall and CO2 emissions have a positive effect on cereal production. For robustness purpose, the Driscoll-Kraay standard regression and dynamic ordinary least square (DOLS) models have also found similar results. Dumitrescu-Hurlin test has found the bidirectional causality of cereal production with temperature and CO2 emissions. Also, unidirectional causality is running from rainfall and rural population to cereal production. The adverse effects of temperature on cereal production are likely to pose severe implications for food security. The paper recommends that governments of the sample countries should research and develop heat-resistant varieties of cereal crops to cope with the adverse effects of temperature on cereal production and ensure food security.