THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND HUMAN DEVELOPMENT ON CARBON EMISSIONS (CASE OF WESTERN BALKAN COUNTRIES)
Keywords:
Environment, Carbon Emissions, Human Development, Economic Growth, SustainabilityAbstract
Climate change is one of the most pressing global challenges, and countries worldwide are taking action to tackle this issue. As countries strive to increase their economic growth and human development, it is quite important to assess if that progress is sustainable and aligned with long-term environmental goals.
The object of this paper is to investigate the impact of the gross domestic product and the Human Development index on the carbon emissions in five Western Balkan countries, namely, North Macedonia, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, and Serbia, by analyzing data from 2002-2022. The data in this study were analyzed by using the fixed and random models. In addition, the Hausman test was performed to determine which of the models is more appropriate for this analysis. The obtained results suggest that economic growth and human development in the Western Balkan countries, come at the cost of the environment, so that a one percentage point increase in the GDP per capita, increases 0.049-ton in carbon emissions per capita, and that a one percent increase in the Human Development Index, leads to an 8.5-ton increase in carbon emissions per capita. The result suggests that there are environmental costs associated with the improvement of the economy and human development in the Western Balkans. These countries need to balance growth and development with the sustainability goals, by implementing stronger policies and taking serious action.
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