Effect of natural resources, renewable energy and economic development on CO2 emissions in BRICS countries

Abstract

Economic development drives industrialization, which increased the value of the extracted natural resources. Excessive usage of natural resources, through agriculture, deforestation, and mining can affect the environment. In this regard, the present study investigates the effects of natural resources' abundance on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. The study uses annual panel data spanning from 1990 to 2015 in BRICS countries. The augmented mean group (AMG) panel algorithm, robust to crosssectional dependence and heterogeneity, infers the heterogeneous effect of natural resources on CO2 emissions among BRICS countries. Abundance of natural resources mitigates CO2 emission in Russia, but contributes to pollution in South Africa. In addition to this, natural resources help to form Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in Brazil, China, Russia, and South Africa. Finally, causality analysis suggested feedback hypothesis between natural resources and CO2 emissions.