Abstract:
This paper investigates the impact urbanization, industrialization, corruption, human development, energy consumption, and foreign direct investment
(FDI) on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions of 61 developing economies of the global
south region of Asia, Africa, and Latin America during the period 1990–2015. The
empirical results show that the effect of corruption on CO2 emissions is indeed
heterogeneous and contradictory. Specifically, results exhibit that due to immature
economic system, and policy paralysis, corruption penetrates the developing
economies, and eventually cause carbon emission and pollution. Furthermore,
results reveal that FDI guided by clean development mechanism and involved in
emission reduction projects in the developing economies play a predominant role to
curb the CO2 emission, pollution, and environmental degradation.