The Interrelationship of Clean Energy, Development of Domestic and Foreign Capital, Economic Growth, and Environmental Quality in a Selection of Developing Countries with the Generalized Method of Moments

This study examines the interrelationships of clean energy, domestic and foreign capital, economic growth, and environmental quality in a group of developing countries during 1995-2018. In this regard, the GMM method has been used. To estimate the impact of domestic and foreign capital development, three different indicators such as foreign direct investment, stock markets, and credits allocated to the private sector have been used. The results show that the increase in clean energy by one to two percent, the emission of carbon dioxide by four, and the increase of foreign direct investment by one percent have increased economic growth. On the other hand, economic growth, while increasing clean energy consumption by an average of 11 percent, has also increased carbon dioxide emissions. Despite the positive mutual relationship between clean energy and economic growth, fossil fuels are still used more in the selected countries. Clean energy projects have lower efficiency and higher financing than other energy supply projects. Therefore, in developing countries, due to a lack of enough capital, few investments are made in these projects.