Exploring the Relationship between Residential CO2 Emissions, Urbanization, Economic Growth, and Residential Energy Consumption: Evidence from the North Africa Region

Abstract

Rapid urbanization, coupled with income growth, will inevitably cause the residential energy consumption in the North Africa region to continue to increase, with adverse effects on the climate, human health, and the economy. In these regards, this paper explores the relationship between residential carbon dioxide emissions (RCO2), urbanization, economic growth, and residential energy use in four North African countries (Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, and Egypt) over the period 1990–2016. To do this, we used the bounds cointegration and the Toda–Yamamoto Granger causality test. The existence of cointegration relationships was confirmed for the four countries. In the long run, the environment Kuznets curve relationship between increased income per capita and RCO2 emissions was verified for only Morocco and Tunisia. The causality analysis also reveals a combination of neutral, unidirectional, and bidirectional relationships for all countries. The RCO2 emissions have not proved to be a limiting factor in any country’s economic growth. The findings of this study certainly contribute to advancing the existing literature by emphasizing the income–pollution nexus in African countries. Policy makers and government regulators should implement the necessary policies that accelerate the development of renewable technologies to drive sustainable cooling and heating as well as water management.