Effect of Energy Efficiency on the Environmental Performance Index in Selected OPEC and the OECD Countries

Given that economic growth is one of the main goals of many of the economic policies of governments, and these policies can have side effects, such as environmental damage, attention to factors that improve the performance of the environment is important. In this study, the effects of variables such as energy intensity (as one of the common variables of energy efficiency), use of chemical fertilizers, human development index and industrial value added, on the environmental performance index for the two groups of OPEC and OECD countries have been investigated using dynamic panel data approach during 2007-2014. The results showed that the increase of variables such as consumption of energy intensity, consumption of chemical fertilizers and industrial value added would decrease the EPI, so that the increase of one unit in the energy intensity variable will result in a decrease of 0.019 and 0.029 units in the environmental performance index in OPEC and OECD countries. According to the results of the study, it is possible to reduce environmental pollution by adopting policies such as implementing stringent regulations for environmental pollutants and limiting the use of energy, along with economic growth.