Exploring the Impact of Economic Growth and Energy Consumption on Environmental Pollution in the TR90 Region: An Insight from the MMQR Approach

Abstract

Governments primarily face the basic conundrums that arise from balancing environmental concerns with economic growth. In this content, since most research focuses on the cases of countries or groups of countries, a significant gap exists in how economic growth and energy consumption influence environmental pollution processes at the regional or provincial level. This study is the first to investigate the effects of energy consumption and economic growth on environmental pollution in the TR90 region of Türkiye (including the provinces of Artvin, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Ordu, Rize, and Trabzon) for the years 2007–2021 in the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. This study utilizes the innovative Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) approach to investigate these effects. The MMQR results support the EKC hypothesis, which contends that environmental pollution rises in the early stages of economic growth but then declines as growth levels reach a turning point. Furthermore, the results demonstrate that increasing energy consumption exacerbates environmental pollution in the TR90 region.

Keywords

• Sustainable Development
• Environmental Pollution
• Energy Consumption
• Environmental Kuznets Curve
• TR90 Region

TR90 Bölgesinde Ekonomik Büyüme ve Enerji Tüketiminin Çevre Kirliliğine Etkisinin Araştırılması: MMQR Yaklaşımından Bir Bakış

Abstract

Hükümetler öncelikli olarak çevresel kaygıları ekonomik büyümeyle dengelemekten kaynaklanan temel açmazlarla karşı karşıyadır. Bu konuda çoğu araştırma ülke veya ülke grupları vakalarına odaklandığından, ekonomik büyümenin ve enerji tüketiminin bölgesel veya il düzeyinde çevre kirliliği süreçlerini nasıl etkilediği konusunda önemli bir bilimsel boşluk vardır. Bu çalışma, 2007-2021 yılları arasında Türkiye'nin TR90 bölgesinde (Artvin, Giresun, Gümüşhane, Ordu, Rize ve Trabzon illerini kapsayan) enerji tüketimi ve ekonomik büyümenin çevre kirliliği üzerindeki etkilerini Çevresel Kuznets Eğrisi (EKC) hipotezi çerçevesinde araştıran ilk çalışmadır. Bu çalışma, bu minvalde yeni Momentler Kantil Regresyonu Yöntemi (MMQR) yaklaşımı kullanmaktadır. MMQR sonuçları, çevre kirliliğinin ekonomik büyümenin erken evrelerinde arttığını ancak büyüme seviyeleri bir dönüm noktasına ulaştığında azalmaya başladığını ileri süren EKC hipotezini desteklemektedir. Ayrıca, sonuçlar artan enerji tüketiminin TR90 bölgesinde çevre kirliliğini olumsuz şekilde etkilediğini göstermektedir.

Keywords

• Sürdürülebilir Kalkınma
• Çevre Kirliliği
• Enerji Tüketimi
• Çevresel Kuznets Eğrisi
• TR90 Bölgesi

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