CO2 emission, life expectancy, and economic growth: a triad analysis of Sub-Saharan African countries

This paper examined the long-period and short-period interdependence among CO2 emissions, life expectancy, and GDP growth in 45 SSA countries since 1991-2020. To secure the legitimacy and credibility of our results, we employed modern econometric techniques, including cross-sectional dependence, panel dynamic ordinary least square, Dumitrescu-Hurlin, Fisher Johnson co-integration test, and vector error correction method. The findings revealed strong positive correlation between economic factors for instance GDP per capita, industry value added, and inflation along with CO2 emissions. Similarly, social factors such as life expectancy and urbanization showed a positive relationship with CO2 emissions. Moreover, our observations validate the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in context of SSA nations. We anticipate that the insights derived from this research will be valuable for policymakers, researchers, and practitioners aiming to concentrate on environmental degradation and encourage sustainable development in the region. Further insights into policy implications are provided.