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Is Europe on the Way to Sustainable Development? Compatibility of Green Environment, Economic Growth, and Circular Economy Issues

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  • Simona Andreea Apostu

    (Department of Statistics and Econometrics, Faculty of Economic Cybernetics, Statistics and Informatics, Bucharest University of Economic Studies, 010552 Bucharest, Romania
    Institute of National Economy, 050711 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Iza Gigauri

    (School of Business, Computing and Social Sciences, St. Andrew the First-Called Georgian University, 0179 Tbilisi, Georgia)

  • Mirela Panait

    (Institute of National Economy, 050711 Bucharest, Romania
    Cybernetics, Economic Informatics, Finance and Accounting Department, Faculty of Economic Studies, Petroleum-Gas University of Ploiești, 100680 Ploiești, Romania)

  • Pedro A. Martín-Cervantes

    (Department of Financial Economics and Accounting, Faculty of Economics and Business Sciences, University of Valladolid, 47002 Valladolid, Spain)

Abstract

The challenges imposed by climate change and the limited nature of resources generate paradigm shifts at the level of economic, social, and environmental policies and strategies. Promoting the principles of sustainable development and the circular economy is a priority worldwide. Thus, the motivation of this research is to explore the European countries’ path toward sustainable development by analysing the relationship between green environment, economic growth, and circular economy issues. In order to explore this relationship in the case of European countries, the analysis takes into consideration specific variables: final energy consumption, GDP, capital gross fixed capital formation, greenhouse gas emissions, SOx emissions, NOx emissions, and generation of municipal waste per capita. This study is focused on the period 2009–2020 for 31 European countries, with data being provided by Eurostat and World Bank databases. The panel data analysis was used in order to examine the relationship between a green environment, economic growth and a circular economy. The results of the study suggest that gross fixed capital formation and total greenhouse gas emissions lead to decreasing generation of municipal waste; instead, final energy consumption, GDP, SOx emissions and NOx emissions generate an increase in the generation of municipal waste. The novelty of our paper consists of associating green environment, economic growth, and circular economy in the case of European countries, the results allowing the proposal of economic policy measures to favor the green transition process considering the potential of the circular economy.

Suggested Citation

  • Simona Andreea Apostu & Iza Gigauri & Mirela Panait & Pedro A. Martín-Cervantes, 2023. "Is Europe on the Way to Sustainable Development? Compatibility of Green Environment, Economic Growth, and Circular Economy Issues," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 20(2), pages 1-17, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jijerp:v:20:y:2023:i:2:p:1078-:d:1028420
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