Environmental pollution, energy import, and economic growth: evidence of sustainable growth in South Africa and Nigeria
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RESEARCH ARTICLE
Environmental pollution, energy import, and economic growth: evidence of sustainable growth in South Africa and Nigeria Adeolu O. Adewuyi 1 & Olabanji B. Awodumi 2,3 Received: 29 August 2020 / Accepted: 27 October 2020 # Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Simultaneous achievement of sustainable development goals (SDGs), especially energy efficiency (SDG 7), economic growth (SDG 8), and pollution reduction (SDG 13), has been a major challenge among the developing countries. Besides, there is absence of a study which quantifies clean production (net growth-emission effects) and energy import efficiency (net growthenergy import effects) as indicators of sustainable growth. Thus, this current study examines this issue for South Africa and Nigeria at aggregate and sectoral levels between 1981 and 2015 using simultaneous equation models and threshold regression analysis. Evidence of the sustainable growth cannot be established for South Africa and Nigeria with and without structural break. Further, the analysis shows that, with respect to Nigeria, keeping petroleum import per capita above the respective threshold enhances the environmental quality as aggregate and sectoral outputs increase. However, the CO2 emission can only induce increased GDP per capita when the petroleum import is below the threshold level. In South Africa’s case, although maintaining petroleum import beyond the threshold may increase CO2 emission per capita associated with high aggregate output per capita, such emission exhibits a negligible reverse impact on output per capita. Results are found to vary across both lower and upper threshold regimes for sectors. Policy recommendations are discussed in the conclusion. Keywords Environment . Energy import . Aggregate and sectoral growth . Simultaneous equation . Threshold analysis . Nigeria and South Africa
Introduction Countries all over the world are now struggling to achieve sustainable development (Rosen 2009; and Oyedepo 2012). This aspiration has led to the articulation of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which has been transformed into sustainable development goals (SDGs). Sustainable development can be referred to as development that takes care of the requirements of the current generation without jeopardizing Responsible editor: Nicholas Apergis * Adeolu O. Adewuyi [email protected] * Olabanji B. Awodumi [email protected] 1
Department of Economics, University of Ibadan School of Business, Ibadan, Nigeria
2
Nigerian Institute of Social & Economic Research (NISER), Ibadan, Nigeria
3
Nigerian Institute of Social and Economic Research, Ibadan, Nigeria
the ability of the upcoming generation to satisfy their own needs (United Nations 1987). The 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development identified social, economic, and environmental sustainability as the three pillars of sustainable development (Oyedepo 2012). A combination of two of the pillars (economic and environmental sustainability) forms sustainable growth which means
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