Linkage of natural resources, economic policies, urbanization, and the environmental Kuznets curve

Natural resource rents (NRR) and economic policies are considerably studied to determine ecological footprints. Currently, due to global uncertainty, renewable energy adoption, and increasing urbanization, every economy is facing challenges to control its ecological footprints. The available literature on the said linkages in the emerging seven economies is inconclusive. Therefore, this study is designed to re-estimate the linkages of NRR, urbanization (URB), economic policy uncertainty (EPU), energy structure (ES), and EFP under the Environment Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Data from 1992 to 2020 is used for empirical evidence, along with robust econometric calculations. The EKC hypothesis does not apply to the E7 economies, according to the findings. The energy structure is assisting in limiting ecological footprints and hence aids in environmental cleanup. The role of NRR, EPU, and URB in limiting the EF, on the other hand, is not encouraging. To minimize environmental degradation, emerging economies should reconsider their economic policies, natural resource rents, and rapid urbanization.

Automated summary

This study re-estimates the linkages between natural resource rents, urbanization, economic policy uncertainty, energy structure, and ecological footprints. The findings suggest that energy structure plays a role in limiting ecological footprints, while the impact of natural resource rents, economic policy uncertainty, and urbanization is not encouraging.