Exploring the dynamic nexus between urbanization and economic growth with carbon emissions in sub-Saharan Africa: Evidence from panel PMG-ARDL estimation

Abstract Sub-Saharan Africa, though not a 'big emitter,' is disproportionately affected by the enormous impact of climate change. With urbanization and economic growth in sub-Saharan Africa having undergone dramatic changes in recent decades, this study, with panel data from 37 sub-Saharan countries between the time period of 1995 to 2017, employs panel cointegration tests and pooled mean group ARDL (PMG-ARDL) techniques to empirically examine the impact of urbanization, economic growth, energy consumption, and industrialization on carbon emissions. Results confirm that (1) There is no significant impact of urbanization on carbon emissions in both the long-run and short-run. (2) energy consumption was found to have significantly impacted carbon emissions, thereby reducing environmental quality in the long-run and short-run. (3) Further findings revealed a significantly negative relationship between economic growth and carbon emissions as well as industrialization and carbon emissions with 1% growth in GDP per capita and industrialization reducing carbon emissions by 0.11% and 0.06% respectively in the long-run. (4) Additionally, our causality test shows a feedback relationship between urbanization and carbon emissions. Policymakers are advised to develop rural areas and plan urban centres, pay attention to sustainable energy sources and waste recycling, and educate the populace in order to improve environmental quality.