Assessing the Co-movements Between Electricity Use and Carbon Emissions in the GCC Area: Evidence from a Wavelet Coherence Method

This paper investigates the association between CO2 emissions and a range of factors, including electricity consumption, economic growth, urbanization, and trade openness for six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries using data covering the 1965-2019 period. Namely, Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar. Contrasting with the standard literature, our empirical strategy uses the wavelet coherence approach on the frequency domain, thought to complement the time series econometric procedures reported earlier on this topic. Supplied at the country level, associated evidence presents far-reaching policy recommendations whose applications may directly benefit environmental planning and bring high information value for the sake of sustainable energies in the Gulf region.

Automated summary

This paper examines the relationship between CO2 emissions and various factors such as electricity consumption, economic growth, urbanization, and trade openness in six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries including Oman, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar, using data from 1965 to 2019. In contrast to previous studies, the authors use the wavelet coherence approach in the frequency domain to complement the time series econometric methods. The findings provide important policy recommendations for environmental planning and contribute valuable information for the development of sustainable energies in the Gulf region.