Per capita carbon footprint convergence in developing countries: the role of energy factors

As global warming intensifies, energy-related decisions are crucial in achieving the 1.5°C target for climate stability. This underscores the urgency for countries to reduce their carbon footprints. The contribution of this study to the extant literature on carbon emissions is twofold. Firstly, the carbon convergence hypothesis is tested for African countries. Further, the influence of energy use and intensity on carbon convergence is examined. Using annual data for 51 African countries spanning 1980 to 2021, the estimation results reveal stochastic convergence for 42 African countries. In addition, group carbon convergence was confirmed for the region. Further, energy consumption and energy intensity are found to positively influence carbon emission convergence on the African continent. These findings have significant implications for climate action in Africa.