Determinants of Carbon Dioxide Emissions in the Organization of Turkic States: An Environmental Sustainability Perspective

The ongoing climate crisis is one of the most severe threats to ecological, economic, and social development, affecting millions worldwide. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions is essential to limit the effects of the global climate crisis. This study aims to assess environmental sustainability by analyzing the impact of key determinants of carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in Azerbaijan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Türkiye, the member states of the Organization of Turkic States. According to the results of the autoregressive distributed lag bounds test (ARDL), based on data covering the period 1997–2019, economic growth, energy use in agricultural productivity, and industrialization increase CO₂ emissions, whereas forest area reduces CO₂ emissions in the long run. The findings were evaluated for the aforementioned countries, and corresponding policy implications were presented.