Does Education Make a Difference in Combating Climate Change? Analyzing Its Impact on CO2 Emissions in the South-East European, Nordic, and Baltic Regions

In this paper, we compare the determinants of CO2 emissions: GDP per capita, energy production from renewable sources (EPREN), secondary school enrollment (SI) and urbanization (URB) for three groups of countries: SEE (South-Eastern European), Nordic, and Baltic countries during 1990–2022 by means of panel ARDL. The long-term analysis indicates that in SEE countries, URB significantly reduces CO2 emissions (4.54%). In contrast, GDP (0.46%) and SI (0.54%) slightly increase CO2 emissions. In the case of Baltic countries, GDP positively correlates with CO2 (1.65%), while URB (29.27%), EPREN (0.03%), and SI (6.22%) negatively correlate with CO2. In the case of Nordic countries, GDP (0.59%), EPREN (0.14%), and URB (18.02%) negatively impact CO2 emissions. Regarding the Error Correction Term (ECT) dimension, the Nordic countries exhibit the fastest adjustment to shocks (−0.67), succeeded by the SEE countries (−0.44), while the Baltic countries display the slowest response (−0.27). This sequence indicates varying degrees of efficiency and speed at which each region can address fluctuations impacting CO2 emissions. These differences may reflect variations in policy execution, infrastructure adaptability, and the general development of environmental governance across the three regions. Our research contributes by offering a comparative, region-specific econometric analysis of the long-run and short-run dynamics of CO2 emissions in European subregions, revealing the nuanced roles of education, urbanization, and RES in shaping environmental outcomes and providing empirical evidence to inform targeted climate and development policies.