The effects of environmental innovations on CO2 emissions: Empirical evidence from Europe

•We examine the effects of Environmental Innovations on CO2 Emissions for 15 UE countries.•We use an ARDL model based on data covering the period 1991–2014.•Our results highlight that in the long-term environmental innovations tend to lower CO2 emissions.•In the short-term the observed effect is the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnvironmental science & policy Vol. 118; pp. 1 - 9
Main Authors Mongo, Michelle, Belaïd, Fateh, Ramdani, Boumediene
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Elsevier Ltd 01.04.2021
Elsevier
Subjects
ARDL model
CO2emissions
Computer Science
Environmental innovations
Europe
Modeling and Simulation
Rebound effect
Q55
Rebound effect
Europe
Environmental innovations
ARDL model
CO2emissions
Q53
CO2 emissions
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Summary:•We examine the effects of Environmental Innovations on CO2 Emissions for 15 UE countries.•We use an ARDL model based on data covering the period 1991–2014.•Our results highlight that in the long-term environmental innovations tend to lower CO2 emissions.•In the short-term the observed effect is the opposite, suggesting the existence of a rebound effect.•Several orientations in terms of public policies can be drawn up in the light of these results. Environmental innovations are key enablers of transition towards greener economies. Despite their importance, empirical studies examining the effect of green technologies on CO2 emissions are still limited. Using an autoregressive distributed-lag model (ARDL), we analyze the impact of environmental innovations, the consumption of renewable energies, GDP per capita, and degree of economic openness on CO2 emissions for 15 European countries over 23 years. Our results indicate that, in the long-term, environmental innovations tend to lower CO2 emissions, whereas in the short-term the observed effect is the opposite, suggesting the existence of a rebound effect. This study recommends introducing new policies that combine tools of environmental economics with those of ecological economy to integrate economic incentives with regulatory changes and encourage individuals to consume differently by favouring products and/or services with a less negative impact on the environment.
ISSN:1462-9011
1873-6416
DOI:10.1016/j.envsci.2020.12.004