The Environmental Kuznets Curve

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) refers to the concept of an inverted U-shaped relationship between a country’s per capita income and some measurement of environmental degradation. The curve hypothesizes that initially, the level of environmental degradation increases with a country’s level of income. As income continues to increase, the level of environmental degradation reaches a turning point. After this turning point, environmental degradation levels decrease as income continues to increase. However, this theory of an inverted U-shaped relationship is not universally agreed on. There is no consensus in the literature on the EKC as to where the turning point occurs, or whether or not all countries will reach a turning point in their levels of environmental degradation. The relationship between development and the health of the environment is much more complex than what is portrayed by the EKC. This paper uses a cross-section analysis of 83 countries to examine co2 emissions while controlling for coal consumption, oil consumption, natural gas consumption, renewable generation, GDP per capita, and the Human Development Index (HDI) and finds that the hypothesized EKC relationship is not supported.