Title: Decarbonisation drivers and climate change concerns of developed economies

Authors: Yu-Xia Tu; Oleksandra Kubatko; Oleksandra Karintseva; Vladyslav Piven

Addresses: School of Accounting and Finance, Xi'an Pei Hua University, Xi'an, 710100, Shaanxi, China ' Department of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Business Administration, Sumy State University, Rymskogo-Korsakova St., 40007 Sumy, Ukraine ' Department of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Business Administration, Sumy State University, Rymskogo-Korsakova St., 40007 Sumy, Ukraine ' Department of Economics, Entrepreneurship and Business Administration, Sumy State University, Rymskogo-Korsakova St., 40007 Sumy, Ukraine

Abstract: The research is built on the World Bank, OECD, and the Heritage Foundation datasets for OECD economies. It investigates the main drivers of decarbonisation and climate change in these countries, analysing three СО₂ indicators: total and per capita СО₂ emissions as well as carbon efficiency. The results have confirmed that the growth of nations' welfare increases economies' carbonisation levels while creating prerequisites for improving states' carbon efficiency. It proves the positive influence of energy efficiency progress on OECD countries' decarbonisation. In contrast, green energy development has no significant effect on the reduction of total CO₂ emissions but positively influences increasing carbon efficiency and reducing per capita carbon dioxide emissions. Oil prices and most institutional factors like EU membership and Heritage Foundation indicators have no noticeable influence on CO₂ indicators. The paper provides policy recommendations and points to future research based on the research results.

Keywords: decarbonisation; climate change; CO₂ emissions; carbon efficiency; economic growth; energy efficiency; renewable energy; institutional factors; OECD countries.

DOI: 10.1504/IJEP.2021.125194

International Journal of Environment and Pollution, 2021 Vol.69 No.1/2, pp.112 - 129

Received: 05 May 2021
Accepted: 09 Feb 2022
Published online: 01 Sep 2022 *

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