Asymmetric Impact of Energy Utilization and Economic Development on Environmental Degradation in Somalia

Abstract While there are enormous studies on climate change in stable countries, climate policy perspectives from conflict-prone regions including Somalia are limited. This study investigates the asymmetric impact of energy and economic growth on environmental degradation in Somalia—by employing nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model (NARDL) and causal techniques from 1985 to 2017. We find asymmetric long-term cointegration among the variables, whereas energy consumption and economic growth asymmetrically affect environmental degradation. Besides, the causal inferences reveal unidirectional causality from environmental pollution to positive change in energy consumption. Additionally, we find unidirectional causality from negative shock in economic growth to positive shock in economic growth. Moreover, a bidirectional causality is observed between population growth and negative change in economic growth. A unidirectional causality is confirmed from positive shock in economic growth to population growth—from negative change in economic growth to negative shock in energy consumption—from positive change in economic growth to positive shock in energy consumption—and negative change in energy consumption to population growth. This calls for the implementation of clean energy investment policies, good farming methods, and improved grazing land policies. The adoption of these policies will improve both environmental quality and sustained economic development.