Does population growth affect carbon emissions? Selected West African studies, 1980-2022

Some theories, like Malthus's, predict that population growth will outpace resources, while others disagree. This study investigated the impact of population growth on carbon emissions in Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and Niger from 1980 to 2022. The research, using secondary data from the World Bank Group and tested at a 0.05 confidence level, found that a 1% rise in population results in a 1.75% (or 174.966 units) increases in carbon emissions. A key finding was that while population growth positively impacts carbon emissions, it was insignificant to proxies of wealth creation, such as per capita GDP. Additionally, poverty and inequality were found to have a positive and significant relationship with emissions. The study recommends that West African governments implement measures to reduce fossil fuel use, such as carbon taxes on firms, and adopt deliberate population control strategies to mitigate climate change.