Effect of Economic Growth, Population, Energy Consumption and Trade on Environmental Quality in MENA Region Countries

In recent decades, concern about global warming as a result of rising greenhouse gas emissions has increased. Accordingly, the identification of factors affecting the emission of greenhouse gases is important. In this regard, the main objective of this study is to investigate concurrent the short and long term relationships between economic growth, population, energy consumption, and trade with the CO2 emissions (as an indicator of environmental quality index) in the MENA region, using data from the 1990-2013 period. For this purpose, firstly, the research model has been specified and after doing usual panel unit root and co-integration tests in panel data, to estimation short and long term coefficients has been used pooled mean group method (PMG). The results indicate a positive impact of economic growth (per capita income) on the CO2 emissions for MENA countries in the long-term and short-term, indicating that these countries are on the upward side of the Kuznets curve. Also, the effect of population, energy consumption and trade on air pollution is positive in the short and long term in the MENA region countries; So that, with a one-percent increase in population, energy consumption and trade variables, CO2 emissions increase in the long-term by 0.36, 0.88 and 0.15 percent respectively, and in the short run by 0.16, 0.52 and 0.07 percent respectively. So can say that in these countries, economic growth, population, energy consumption and trade, causes the CO2 emissions.