TY - JOUR T1 - Investigating the Link Between Trade Openness and Environmental Degradation: The Case of the Organization of Turkic States AU - Yapar, Mustafa AU - Keşap, Doğan AU - Sandalcılar, Ali Rıza PY - 2025 DA - August Y2 - 2025 DO - 10.26650/JEPR1706447 JF - İktisat Politikası Araştırmaları Dergisi JO - JEPR PB - İstanbul Üniversitesi WT - DergiPark SN - 2148-3876 SP - 385 EP - 401 VL - 12 IS - 2 LA - en AB - In an era of rapidly expanding global trade, the environmental costs of trade openness (TO) are a crucial area of study in relation to sustainable development goals. This study investigates the link between TO and environmental degradation by analysing the carbon emission patterns of five developing Organization of Turkic States (OTS) members. This study employs panel data methods over the period 1993–2021 and includes economic growth (EG) and renewable energy consumption (REN) as control variables. The panel cointegration test results verify that the TO, EG, REN, and CO₂ have a long-term relationship. According to the AMG and CCEMG estimation results, TO has a significant and positive long-term impact on CO₂ emissions. This finding implies that trade liberalisation causes environmental degradation in the context of OTS countries through scale effects, and it provides empirical evidence for the Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH). On the other hand, the analysis illustrates that REN decreases CO₂ emissions, highlighting the importance of the energy transition to maintain environmental sustainability. The results emphasise the need to design trade policies in OTS countries with regard to the environment. Under these circumstances, it is recommended to integrate trade policies with environmental regulations, to promote and adopt green technologies for renewable energy and production, and to strengthen environment-focused regional trade cooperation mechanisms in the OTS countries.JEL Classification : C33 , Q50 , Q56 KW - Trade Openness KW - CO₂ Emissions KW - Environmental Degradation KW - Organization of Turkic States KW - Panel Data Analysis CR - Acaroğlu, H., Kartal, H. M., and García Márquez, F. P. (2023). Testing the environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis in terms of ecological footprint and CO₂ emissions through energy diversification for Turkey. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 30(22), 63289–63304. doi:10.1007/S11356^023^26278^W. google scholar CR - Akbostanci, E., Türüt^Aşik, S., and Tunç, G. I. (2009). The relationship between income and environment in Turkey: Is there an environ^ mental Kuznets curve? 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