Comparative analysis of the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis for E7 countries on the relationship between CO2 emissions and economic growth

Abstract Carrying out a responsible production that will minimize the negative effects of chemicals and wastes on human health and the environment has its place among the SDGs determined by the United Nations (SDGs-12: Responsible Production and Consumption). It is important to investigate the environmental strategies of the economies that lead to environmental pollution globally at highest level and to fulfil their responsibilities in the transition to sustainable economic growth. Using time series from 1965 to 2021, the primary goal of this study is to ascertain the direction and importance of the relationship between CO 2 emissions and EG for the E7 countries. The most appropriate environment-income models for E7 countries have been tried to be selected based on the OLS estimation results of six model specifications derived from the general EKC model and the results of ARDL Bounds Test in which cointegration relationships between variables have been investigated. In this context, the CO 2 emission-income relationship has been determined as ‘N’ for Türkiye and India, ‘U’ for China and inverted ‘N’ for Russia. It has been found out that an increasing linear form of CO 2 emission-income relationship emerged for Brazil and Mexico, and the EKC hypothesis (inverted ‘U’ relationship) has been found to be valid only for Indonesia among the variables in question. As a result, it is understood from the analysis that it is not possible for E7 countries except for Indonesia to fulfil the commitments made in the Paris Agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.