Carbon Emissions, Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in the BRICS

Sammanfattning: This thesis investigates the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) and the link between carbon emissions, energy use and economic growth in the BRICS countries within 1980-2013. The reason for analysing a sample of energy-intensive developing countries (the BRICS) is that these nations are of major concern for the global environmental challenge. The results of panel cointegration relationship estimation do not support the EKC. The estimated elasticity of carbon dioxide emissions to energy use is 0.60%, while the elasticity of economic growth to energy consumption is 1.74%. Moreover, the causality tests indicate that energy use Granger-causes carbon emissions, while economic growth, in turn, Granger-causes energy use. This thesis adds to the existing literature and can have policy relevance for the BRICS countries. Based on the results of this study, the overall recommendation is to prioritize increase in energy efficiency through technological development and use of cleaner resources of production.