Decoupling Analysis of Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Economic Growth: A Case Study of Tunisia

Abstract

The study examined the impact of different factors on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, by applying the extended STIRPAT model and decoupling analysis for Tunisia for the period 1990–2018. Furthermore, the study utilizes Tapio decoupling model, and the Auto-Regressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) bounds test approach to examine the relationship between the variables of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, economic growth, energy consumption, urbanization, innovation, and trade openness. The findings validated an inverted U-shape relationship between GDP and GHG emissions. In addition, we find that the consumption of renewable energy contributes to the reduction of GHG emissions in the long run. The findings call authority for the adaption of the regulatory framework relating to energy management, energy efficiency and the development of renewable energies, as well as to initiate energy market reforms, implement mitigation strategies and encourage investments in clean energies.

Keywords

• GHG emissions
• energy consumption
• urbanization
• decoupling analysis
• ECK
• ARDL