IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/azm/journl/v4y2025i2p01-22.html

Health Impacts of Smog and Climate Change in South Asia: An In-depth Analysis of its Determinants

Author

Listed:
  • Zahra Aslam

    (Forman Christian College)

  • Talah Numan Khan

    (Forman Christian College)

  • Tanvir Ahmed

    (Forman Christian College)

Abstract

Every region of the world has been impacted by climate change or is expected to be impacted in the future. One of the area¡¯s most susceptible to climate change is South Asia. Extreme weather occurrences in 2022 provided a stark warning of the devastation that climate change can cause to the area. According to the World Bank, the floods in Pakistan caused eight million people to be evacuated, many casualties, and damages of USD 30 billion. This paper explores the effect of climate change in term of CO2 emission and smog under the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve for South Asia Region. The specific goal of this study is to manage the distinct socio-economic, environmental, and policy environments of South Asian countries while concentrating on global or regional trends and to suggest policy guidelines for the improvement of climate change. The study utilized data from two separate sources: WDI, and the KOF Index. Fixed effect regression model is used for the method of estimation. From 2000 to 2020, four South Asian nations are examined in this study: India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Iran. The findings of the analysis show that economic growth has a positive and noteworthy impact on carbon dioxide emissions. The findings of the analysis of foreign direct investment show that the region of South Asia has negative and insignificant effects on CO2 emissions. The government should strengthen fuel efficiency and emission standards for vehicles, with a focus on reducing NOx and volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Support for electric vehicles (EVs) should also be increased through financial incentives, subsidies, and the expansion of charging infrastructure.

Suggested Citation

  • Zahra Aslam & Talah Numan Khan & Tanvir Ahmed, 2025. "Health Impacts of Smog and Climate Change in South Asia: An In-depth Analysis of its Determinants," Journal of Economic Sciences, Federal Urdu University Islamabad, Department of Economics, vol. 4(2), pages 01-22, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:azm:journl:v:4:y:2025:i:2:p:01-22
    DOI: 10.55603/jes.v4i2.a1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://jesciences.com/index.php/jes/article/view/118
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.55603/jes.v4i2.a1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Shaojian & Wang, Jieyu & Zhou, Yuquan, 2018. "Estimating the effects of socioeconomic structure on CO2 emissions in China using an econometric analysis framework," Structural Change and Economic Dynamics, Elsevier, vol. 47(C), pages 18-27.
    2. Tamazian, Artur & Chousa, Juan Piñeiro & Vadlamannati, Krishna Chaitanya, 2009. "Does higher economic and financial development lead to environmental degradation: Evidence from BRIC countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(1), pages 246-253, January.
    3. Werner Antweiler & Brian R. Copeland & M. Scott Taylor, 2001. "Is Free Trade Good for the Environment?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 91(4), pages 877-908, September.
    4. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain & Ahmad, Nawaz & Alam, Shaista, 2016. "Financial development and environmental quality: The way forward," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 353-364.
    5. Muhammad Shahbaz & Hrushikesh Mallick & Mantu Kumar Mahalik & Shawkat Hammoudeh, 2018. "Is globalization detrimental to financial development? Further evidence from a very large emerging economy with significant orientation towards policies," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 50(6), pages 574-595, February.
    6. Farhani, Sahbi & Mrizak, Sana & Chaibi, Anissa & Rault, Christophe, 2014. "The environmental Kuznets curve and sustainability: A panel data analysis," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 71(C), pages 189-198.
    7. Sharma, Susan Sunila, 2011. "Determinants of carbon dioxide emissions: Empirical evidence from 69 countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 88(1), pages 376-382, January.
    8. Weibin Lin & Bin Chen & Shichao Luo & Li Liang, 2014. "Factor Analysis of Residential Energy Consumption at the Provincial Level in China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 6(11), pages 1-15, November.
    9. Frank Adusah-Poku, 2016. "Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Urbanization and Population: Empirical Evidence in Sub Saharan Africa," Energy Economics Letters, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 3(1), pages 1-16, March.
    10. David H. Romer & Jeffrey A. Frankel, 1999. "Does Trade Cause Growth?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(3), pages 379-399, June.
    11. Tamazian, Artur & Bhaskara Rao, B., 2010. "Do economic, financial and institutional developments matter for environmental degradation? Evidence from transitional economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(1), pages 137-145, January.
    12. Martínez-Zarzoso, Inmaculada & Maruotti, Antonello, 2011. "The impact of urbanization on CO2 emissions: Evidence from developing countries," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(7), pages 1344-1353, May.
    13. Chen, Chaoyi & Pinar, Mehmet & Stengos, Thanasis, 2022. "Renewable energy and CO2 emissions: New evidence with the panel threshold model," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 194(C), pages 117-128.
    14. Narayan, Paresh Kumar & Narayan, Seema, 2010. "Carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth: Panel data evidence from developing countries," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 38(1), pages 661-666, January.
    15. Alam, Shaista & Fatima, Ambreen & Butt, Muhammad S., 2007. "Sustainable development in Pakistan in the context of energy consumption demand and environmental degradation," Journal of Asian Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(5), pages 825-837, October.
    16. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Mallick, Hrushikesh & Kumar, Mantu & Loganathan, Nanthakumar, 2015. "Does Globalization Impede Environmental Quality in India?," MPRA Paper 67285, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 15 Oct 2015.
    17. Zhang, Chuanguo & Lin, Yan, 2012. "Panel estimation for urbanization, energy consumption and CO2 emissions: A regional analysis in China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 488-498.
    18. Lau, Lin-Sea & Choong, Chee-Keong & Eng, Yoke-Kee, 2014. "Investigation of the environmental Kuznets curve for carbon emissions in Malaysia: Do foreign direct investment and trade matter?," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 490-497.
    19. Xuan Yu & Manhong Shen & Weiteng Shen & Xiao Zhang, 2020. "Effects of Land Urbanization on Smog Pollution in China: Estimation of Spatial Autoregressive Panel Data Models," Land, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-16, September.
    20. Dasgupta, Susmita & Laplante, Benoit & Mamingi, Nlandu, 2001. "Pollution and Capital Markets in Developing Countries," Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 310-335, November.
    21. Frank Adusah-Poku, 2016. "Carbon Dioxide Emissions, Urbanization and Population: Empirical Evidence in Sub Saharan Africa," Energy Economics Letters, Asian Economic and Social Society, vol. 3(1), pages 1-16.
    22. Jalil, Abdul & Mahmud, Syed F., 2009. "Environment Kuznets curve for CO2 emissions: A cointegration analysis for China," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 37(12), pages 5167-5172, December.
    23. Muhammad, Shahbaz & Adebola Solarin, Solarin & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2016. "Environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis and the role of globalization in selected African countries," MPRA Paper 69859, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 04 Mar 2016.
    24. Axel Dreher, 2006. "Does globalization affect growth? Evidence from a new index of globalization," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 38(10), pages 1091-1110.
    25. Abbasi, Faiza & Riaz, Khalid, 2016. "CO2 emissions and financial development in an emerging economy: An augmented VAR approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 90(C), pages 102-114.
    26. Dinda, Soumyananda, 2004. "Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: A Survey," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(4), pages 431-455, August.
    27. Sadorsky, Perry, 2011. "Financial development and energy consumption in Central and Eastern European frontier economies," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 999-1006, February.
    28. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Chaudhary, A.R. & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2017. "Does urbanization cause increasing energy demand in Pakistan? Empirical evidence from STIRPAT model," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 122(C), pages 83-93.
    29. Sahbi Farhani & Sana Mrizak & Anissa Chaibi & Christophe Rault, 2014. "The Environmental Kuznets Curve and Sustainability: A Panel Data Analysis," CESifo Working Paper Series 4787, CESifo.
    30. Saboori, Behnaz & Sulaiman, Jamalludin & Mohd, Saidatulakmal, 2012. "Economic growth and CO2 emissions in Malaysia: A cointegration analysis of the Environmental Kuznets Curve," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 51(C), pages 184-191.
    31. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Kumar Tiwari, Aviral & Nasir, Muhammad, 2013. "The effects of financial development, economic growth, coal consumption and trade openness on CO2 emissions in South Africa," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 1452-1459.
    32. Wang, Yuan & Li, Li & Kubota, Jumpei & Han, Rong & Zhu, Xiaodong & Lu, Genfa, 2016. "Does urbanization lead to more carbon emission? Evidence from a panel of BRICS countries," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 168(C), pages 375-380.
    33. Kim, Jeayoon & Park, Kwangwoo, 2016. "Financial development and deployment of renewable energy technologies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 59(C), pages 238-250.
    34. Kayhan, Selim & Adiguzel, Uğur & Bayat, Tayfur & Lebe, Fuat, 2010. "Causality Relationship between Real GDP and Electricity Consumption in Romania (2001-2010)," Journal for Economic Forecasting, Institute for Economic Forecasting, vol. 0(4), pages 169-183, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Bashir Muhammad & Sher Khan, 2021. "Understanding the relationship between natural resources, renewable energy consumption, economic factors, globalization and CO2 emissions in developed and developing countries," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 45(2), pages 138-156, May.
    2. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasir, Muhammad Ali & Hille, Erik & Mahalik, Mantu Kumar, 2020. "UK's net-zero carbon emissions target: Investigating the potential role of economic growth, financial development, and R&D expenditures based on historical data (1870–2017)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    3. Acheampong, Alex O., 2019. "Modelling for insight: Does financial development improve environmental quality?," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 156-179.
    4. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Nasir, Muhammad Ali & Roubaud, David, 2018. "Environmental degradation in France: The effects of FDI, financial development, and energy innovations," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 843-857.
    5. Mumin Atalay Cetin & Ibrahim Bakirtas, 2020. "The long-run environmental impacts of economic growth, financial development, and energy consumption: Evidence from emerging markets," Energy & Environment, , vol. 31(4), pages 634-655, June.
    6. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Balsalobre, Daniel & Shahzad, Syed Jawad Hussain, 2018. "The Influencing Factors of CO2 Emissions and the Role of Biomass Energy Consumption: Statistical Experience from G-7 Countries," MPRA Paper 87456, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 14 Jun 2018.
    7. Muhammad Shahbaz & Avik Sinha, 2019. "Environmental Kuznets curve for CO2emissions: a literature survey," Journal of Economic Studies, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 46(1), pages 106-168, January.
    8. Iftikhar Yasin & Nawaz Ahmad & Muhammad Aslam Chaudhary, 2021. "The impact of financial development, political institutions, and urbanization on environmental degradation: evidence from 59 less-developed economies," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 23(5), pages 6698-6721, May.
    9. Acheampong, Alex O. & Amponsah, Mary & Boateng, Elliot, 2020. "Does financial development mitigate carbon emissions? Evidence from heterogeneous financial economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C).
    10. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Sinha, Avik, 2019. "Environmental Kuznets Curve for CO2 emission: A survey of empirical literature," MPRA Paper 100257, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 2019.
    11. Le Hoang Phong, 2019. "Globalization, Financial Development, and Environmental Degradation in the Presence of Environmental Kuznets Curve: Evidence from ASEAN-5 Countries," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 9(2), pages 40-50.
    12. AhAtil, Ahmed & Bouheni, Faten Ben & Lahiani, Amine & Shahbaz, Muhammad, 2019. "Factors influencing CO2 Emission in China: A Nonlinear Autoregressive Distributed Lags Investigation," MPRA Paper 91190, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 02 Jan 2019.
    13. Tiba, Sofien & Omri, Anis, 2017. "Literature survey on the relationships between energy, environment and economic growth," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 1129-1146.
    14. Zhao, Jing & Zhao, Ziru & Zhang, Huan, 2021. "The impact of growth, energy and financial development on environmental pollution in China: New evidence from a spatial econometric analysis," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 93(C).
    15. Javid, Muhammad & Sharif, Fatima, 2016. "Environmental Kuznets curve and financial development in Pakistan," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 54(C), pages 406-414.
    16. Hanen Ragoubi & Zouheir Mighri, 2021. "Spillover effects of trade openness on CO2 emissions in middle‐income countries: A spatial panel data approach," Regional Science Policy & Practice, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 13(3), pages 835-877, June.
    17. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Ben Khediri, Karim, 2016. "Financial development and environmental quality in UAE: Cointegration with structural breaks," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 1322-1335.
    18. Shahbaz, Muhammad & Haouas, Ilham & SBIA, Rashid & Ozturk, Ilhan, 2018. "Financial Development-Environmental Degradation Nexus in the United Arab Emirates: The Importance of Growth, Globalization and Structural Breaks," MPRA Paper 87365, University Library of Munich, Germany, revised 11 Jun 2018.
    19. Su-Yin Cheng & Chih-Ping Yu & Han Hou, 2025. "Investigating the role of financial development in mitigating carbon emissions across diverse financial economies," Economic Change and Restructuring, Springer, vol. 58(1), pages 1-31, February.
    20. Yilmaz Bayar & Laura Diaconu (Maxim) & Andrei Maxim, 2020. "Financial Development and CO 2 Emissions in Post-Transition European Union Countries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(7), pages 1-15, March.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    JEL classification:

    • Q53 - Agricultural and Natural Resource Economics; Environmental and Ecological Economics - - Environmental Economics - - - Air Pollution; Water Pollution; Noise; Hazardous Waste; Solid Waste; Recycling
    • C21 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Single Equation Models; Single Variables - - - Cross-Sectional Models; Spatial Models; Treatment Effect Models

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:azm:journl:v:4:y:2025:i:2:p:01-22. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Dr. Ihtsham Ul Haq (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.fuuastisb.edu.pk/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.