Affiliations 

  • 1 Department of Economics, Government Post Graduate College No. 1, Abbottabad, KPK, Pakistan
  • 2 Graduate School of Economics and Management, Ural Federal University, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation
  • 3 Department of Management Sciences, University of Wah, Wah Cantt, Pakistan
  • 4 Department of Economics, The University of Haripur, Haripur, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan
  • 5 Education Faculty, University of Muhammadiyah Jakarta, South Jakarta, Indonesia
  • 6 Department of Nationhood and Civilization, Centre for Fundamental and Continuing Studies (PPAL), Universiti Malaysia Terengganu (UMT), Kuala Nerus, Terengganu, Malaysia
  • 7 School of Education, Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Skudai, Johor Bahru, Malaysia
  • 8 School of Public Administration, Xi'an University of Architecture and Technology, Xi'an, China
PLoS One, 2022;17(8):e0271017.
PMID: 36026488 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0271017

Abstract

Carbon emissions are primarily the result of human activity in urban areas. Inadequate sanitary facilities, contaminated drinking water, nonrenewable energy, and high traffic congestion have all impacted the natural ecosystem. Using data from 1975 to 2019, the study assessed the impact of the aforementioned variables on Pakistan's carbon emissions in light of this crucial fact. The ARDL cointegration method was used to estimate the short- and long-run parameter estimates. Urban sanitation challenges and energy consumption increase carbon emissions, which affects the natural environment by raising a country's carbon intensity. Economic expansion confirmed the inverted U-shaped relationship between carbon emissions and economic growth to verify the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis in the long run. In contrast, the monotonically rising function of carbon emissions provides evidence of the nation's economic development in the short run. Access to clean drinking water improves population health and encourages the purchase of eco-friendly products. The government must improve sanitation services and use renewable energy sources to enhance air quality.

* Title and MeSH Headings from MEDLINE®/PubMed®, a database of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.