Urgent Need of Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction
Greenhouse gas emission (GHGE) is a driven factor which results in climate change. Even though the original occurrence of greenhouse effect is natural, human activities are considered as the main sources of the continuing increased GHG concentration that has been observed since last century.
The level of accumulation of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is intimately related with the extent of global warming (Meinshausen et al., 2009), and the reduction of greenhouse gas emission has become a shared goal for all the countries in the world and target for all human beings in order to pursuit a better environment for our next generations. In 2015, all U.N. members gathered in Paris and came up with a brand-new agreement that aims to combat the global warming and achieve a sustainable low-carbon future. The meeting targets to reduce the global GHGEs while each country voluntarily submitted their strategies that are reflective to their low-emission development.
Canada, specifically, committed to reducing its GHGE by 30% by 2030 based on the level of 2005, and a new plan which aims to achieve net-zero emission by 2050 is also under development (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2020). An increasing pattern in GHGE is still observed as the consequence of development globally, how to find the balance between development needs and environmental objectives is a issue for all countries to considered when designing plans for sustainable development.
Greenhouse gas emission (GHGE) is a driven factor which results in climate change. Even though the original occurrence of greenhouse effect is natural, human activities are considered as the main sources of the continuing increased GHG concentration that has been observed since last century.
The level of accumulation of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere is intimately related with the extent of global warming (Meinshausen et al., 2009), and the reduction of greenhouse gas emission has become a shared goal for all the countries in the world and target for all human beings in order to pursuit a better environment for our next generations. In 2015, all U.N. members gathered in Paris and came up with a brand-new agreement that aims to combat the global warming and achieve a sustainable low-carbon future. The meeting targets to reduce the global GHGEs while each country voluntarily submitted their strategies that are reflective to their low-emission development.
Canada, specifically, committed to reducing its GHGE by 30% by 2030 based on the level of 2005, and a new plan which aims to achieve net-zero emission by 2050 is also under development (Environment and Climate Change Canada, 2020). An increasing pattern in GHGE is still observed as the consequence of development globally, how to find the balance between development needs and environmental objectives is a issue for all countries to considered when designing plans for sustainable development.
Interaction between GDP & GHGE
The strong combined effect of economic growth and GHG emissions has been a major contributor to human-induced climate change (Grubb et al., 2011). As shown in Fig. 2, the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) gave an comprehension into the mechanisms of interaction between economic growth and environmental degradation (which indicated by GHGE in this study). The curve demonstrate that the economic growth can have positive effects to environment, however, high efficiency of energy consumption and post-industrialization are required (Yusuf et al., 2020; Stern, 2018). As evidenced by multiple previous studies, the relationship between GDP per capita and greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) is expected to be positive, which supports the EKC hypothesis across countries (Zaman & Moemen, 2017; Balibey, 2015; Chen & Huang, 2013).
The strong combined effect of economic growth and GHG emissions has been a major contributor to human-induced climate change (Grubb et al., 2011). As shown in Fig. 2, the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) gave an comprehension into the mechanisms of interaction between economic growth and environmental degradation (which indicated by GHGE in this study). The curve demonstrate that the economic growth can have positive effects to environment, however, high efficiency of energy consumption and post-industrialization are required (Yusuf et al., 2020; Stern, 2018). As evidenced by multiple previous studies, the relationship between GDP per capita and greenhouse gas emissions (CO2) is expected to be positive, which supports the EKC hypothesis across countries (Zaman & Moemen, 2017; Balibey, 2015; Chen & Huang, 2013).
Objectives
Based on the EKC hypothesis, this study is aimed to:
1. To compare the average greenhouse gas emission and GDP for each country from 2001 - 2012 to identified the outliers.
2. To compare the trend of greenhouse gas emissions for each country from 2001 to 2012 and compare the trend with their GDP per capita to see which counties are the outliers in terms of both emission growth and reduction.
Based on the EKC hypothesis, this study is aimed to:
1. To compare the average greenhouse gas emission and GDP for each country from 2001 - 2012 to identified the outliers.
2. To compare the trend of greenhouse gas emissions for each country from 2001 to 2012 and compare the trend with their GDP per capita to see which counties are the outliers in terms of both emission growth and reduction.
Expected results
The countries with higher level of industrial development are expected to pop out in the statistical analysis due to improved technology, higher consumption of renewable resources or unique government policy or regulations. Those post-industrial countries may contain very high GDP and very low emission or high rate of emission reduction which make them outliers in the analysis. The countries with low GDP are expected to have higher emission per capita as well as higher rate of emission increase.
The countries with higher level of industrial development are expected to pop out in the statistical analysis due to improved technology, higher consumption of renewable resources or unique government policy or regulations. Those post-industrial countries may contain very high GDP and very low emission or high rate of emission reduction which make them outliers in the analysis. The countries with low GDP are expected to have higher emission per capita as well as higher rate of emission increase.