Does Education Make a Difference in Combating Climate Change? Analyzing Its Impact on CO 2 Emissions in the South-East European, Nordic, and Baltic Regions

In this paper, we compare the determinants of CO 2 emissions: GDP per capita, energy production from renewable sources (EPREN), secondary school enrollment (SI) and urbanization (URB) for three groups of countries: SEE (South-Eastern European), Nordic, and Baltic countries during 1990–2022 by means of panel ARDL. The long-term analysis indicates that in SEE countries, URB significantly reduces CO 2 emissions (4.54%). In contrast, GDP (0.46%) and SI (0.54%) slightly increase CO 2 emissions. In the case of Baltic countries, GDP positively correlates with CO 2 (1.65%), while URB (29.27%), EPREN (0.03%), and SI (6.22%) negatively correlate with CO 2 . In the case of Nordic countries, GDP (0.59%), EPREN (0.14%), and URB (18.02%) negatively impact CO 2 emissions. Regarding the Error Correction Term (ECT) dimension, the Nordic countries exhibit the fastest adjustment to shocks (−0.67), succeeded by the SEE countries (−0.44), while the Baltic countries display the slowest response (−0.27). This sequence indicates varying degrees of efficiency and speed at which each region can address fluctuations impacting CO 2 emissions. These differences may reflect variations in policy execution, infrastructure adaptability, and the general development of environmental governance across the three regions. Our research contributes by offering a comparative, region-specific econometric analysis of the long-run and short-run dynamics of CO 2 emissions in European subregions, revealing the nuanced roles of education, urbanization, and RES in shaping environmental outcomes and providing empirical evidence to inform targeted climate and development policies.