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Global warming remains the most devastating environmental issue embattling the global economies, with significant contributions emanating from CO2 emissions. The continued rise in the level of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions serves as a compelling force which constitutes the core of discussion at the recent COP26 prompting nations to commit to the net-zero emission target. The current research presents the first empirical investigation on the roles of technological advancement, demographic mobility, and energy transition in G7 pathways to environmental sustainability captured by CO2 emissions per capita (PCCO2) from 2000 to 2019. The study considers the additional impacts of structural change and resource abundance. The empirical backings are subjected to pre-estimation tests consisting of cross-sectional dependence, second-generation stationarity, and panel cointegration tests. The model estimation is based on cross-sectional augmented autoregressive distributed lag, dynamic common correlated effects mean group, and augmented mean group for the main analysis and robustness checks. The findings reveal the existence of EKC based on the direct and indirect effects of the components of economic growth. The indicators of demographic mobility differ in the direction of influence on PCCO2. For instance, while rural population growth negatively influences PCCO2 in the short-run alone, urban population growth increases PCCO2 in the short-run and long-run periods. Nonrenewable energy, information computer technology (ICT) imports, and mobile cellular subscriptions serve as positive predictors of PCCO2, while ICT exports and renewable energy moderate the surge in PCCO2. Policy implications that enhance environmental sustainability are suggested following the empirical verifications.

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Are "economic bads" of infectious diseases and "economic goods" of foreign direct investment antagonistic to each other? This is the salient question that this research inquiry unravels for 34 African economies from 2000 to 2017. The empirical evidence revealed the following through a generalized method of moments (SGMM) inter alia: First, the mitigating roles of infectious diseases, such as malaria, HIV prevalence rate and AIDS, on global FDI inflows are unconditionally certified from a statistical and economic sense. Second, the diminishing influences of other confounders, such as low per capita GDP, shallow financial development, excruciating inflationary trend, and natural resource rents curse, are empirically endorsed, on the one hand, while the persistent nature of FDI and trade openness as boosting mechanisms for FDI are unambiguously applauded, on the other hand. Finally, a reduction in the numerical strength of the estimates after accounting for the outliers' effect from the models and the inclusion of additional controls do not diminish the robustness of already established findings, except for the HIV prevalence rate. On the policy front, if the foreign direct investment is truly pro-development outcomes, any policy interventions that eliminate infectious diseases will be Pareto-improving.

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Environmental sustainability and climate change mitigation seem central in the fight against global warming and continuous human sustenance in the twenty-first century. However, non-renewable and renewable energy are at the core of these pollution concerns, particularly among the G20 economies that are the top pollution emitters. Capital investment has been argued to ameliorate or amplify the relationship, unlike other mediators in the energy-pollution nexus. To this end, the study specifically sets out to unravel the mediating role of capital investment in energy-pollution link together with other pollution confounders, including trade openness, foreign direct investment, and energy use for G20 economies over the period 1990-2017. We report vital findings using the pooled mean group estimator and accounting for cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity among the countries. First, results show that renewable energy negatively impacts carbon emissions in both the short and long runs, while non-renewable energy positively impacts pollution. In addition, the results show that capital investment lowers pollution in the short run but increases it in the long run. Lastly, on interacting capital investment with renewable energy, we find that pollution falls in both the short and long runs, while its interaction with non-renewable energy expands pollution in both periods. On the policy front, since capital investment provides an important channel to reduce pollution in G20 nations, it is therefore recommended that if energy consumption is to work through the capital investment channel to lower pollution in the G20, the proportion of renewable energy must increase relative to non-renewable energy in their energy mix.

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This study probes the environmental consequences of income inequality (INQ) in G7 economies from 1971 to 2015. INQ is captured by four indicators comprising GINI coefficients, Palma ratio, Theil index, and Atkinson index on per capita carbon emission as a proxy for environmental degradation using both fully modified OLS (FM-OLS) and dynamic OLS (D-OLS). The empirical data are subjected to pre-test using cross-sectional dependence (CSD) test and panel unit root and panel cointegration tests. The following results are established. First, the absence of CSD and presence of cointegration is confirmed. Second, positive effects of INQ indices are reported for the panel analyses. Third, the results of country-specific analyses are divergent and mixed among the G7 economies. For instance, positive impacts are reported for Canada, Japan, and the USA and negative for France and Germany; and insignificant impacts are evident in the case of Italy and the UK. Fourth, the effects of other covariates emerge from two directions entailing both positive and negative. While per capita GDP (LGDPPC) and trade openness (OPN) are aligned with the former a prior, per energy use (PEU) and inflation (INF) satisfied the latter. Consequently, embarking on pro-poor programs such as social welfare funds, private initiative support fund, and state intervention aimed at checkmating the excesses of the capitalists is seen as sacrosanct to solving the INQ-pco2 nexus disharmony.

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This study examines the disaggregated impacts of non-renewable energy (NRE) indicators comprising coal, gas, and fuel, and trade openness (TO) entailing imports and exports on environmental quality proxied by (carbon emission per capita, co2pc) in selected G-20 countries with the conditioning role of technological innovation (ecoi) from 1990 to 2018. The empirical analyses are evaluated using a battery of estimation techniques comprising augmented mean group (AMG), common correlated effect mean group (CCEMG), and mean group (MG), respectively. The following major results are evident from the analyses. First, coal, gas, fuel, and imports increase co2pc while exports reduce it. Second, the unconditional and conditional effects of technological innovation (ECOI) significantly reduce co2pc. These results are consistent with the robustness checks based on CCEMG and MG estimators. On the policy front, promoting technological innovation remains a veritable option to curtailing the devastating impacts of co2pc.

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The present study empirically investigates the tripartite impacts of renewable energy (RE), nonrenewable energy (NRE), and trade openness (TO) with the conditioning role of technology on environmental quality (CO2 emission) for the G-7 countries (Canada, France, Germany, Japan, Italy, USA, and United Kingdom) for the period straddling 1990-2019. The empirical analyses are anchored on a set of estimation procedures including; cross-sectional dependence test, second generation panel unit root test, Westerlund cointegration test, Hausman test, and pooled mean group (PMG). The following results emanate from the findings. First, the presence of cross-sectional dependence and long-run relationships are confirmed for the countries. Second, RE significantly lessens the prevalence of carbon emissions across the estimated models. This further underscores the mitigating effects of RE on CO2 emissions for the G-7 countries. Third, the impacts of NRE and TO are found to contribute to surge in CO2 emissions. Fourth, the effects of technological progress captured by research and development (RD) and eco-innovation significantly reduce the stock of CO2 emissions using both unconditional (single effect) and conditional (interactive effect) methods. Fifth, the existence of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) receives empirical support for the G-7 countries. Other covariates such as foreign direct investment (FDI), Gross Fixed Capital Formation (GCFC), and service value-added (SVA) exert diverging impacts on CO2 emissions. Sixth, the country-level analyses show the heterogeneous nature of the G-7 countries as evident from each country's findings.

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Investment in capitals is sacrosanct to launch a country to a greater path of sustainable development. Notwithstanding, its deleterious impacts on environment are equally incontestable. In light of this stark reality, this paper examines the threshold effects of capital investments on carbon emissions in G20 economies over the period, 1992-2014, for which data are available. The study uses both exogenously determined and endogenously determined thresholds to uncover the relationship. While the former relies on median approach to determining the threshold on the one hand, the latter uses both the fixed effects panel threshold model proposed by (Hansen J Econ 93:345-368, 1999) and the bootstrap method by (Hansen Econometrica 68:575-603, 2000) to assess the statistical relevance of the threshold effects on the other hand. The results of the exogenously determined thresholds show higher statistical significant environmental impacts of capital investments at a median threshold of above 3.068 than when it is lesser. The findings of the latter approach indicate the relationship between capital investments and carbon emissions to be non-linear for the G20 countries. More specifically, this study establishes a single-threshold level of capital investment on carbon emissions for the group of countries. The threshold estimator of 3.434 is established at the 95% confidence interval. Beyond this point, the environmental impacts of capital investments are imaginable. On the policy front, keeping to the limit set by threshold effects would go a long way to stemming environmental pollution and mitigating climatic change impacts.

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This scientific enquiry examines the role of capital investment in the energy-pollution model in SANEM countries. The methodology is based on the Pooled Mean Group (PMG), which is appropriate for a heterogeneous panel. Findings reveal that energy use negatively impacts CO2 emissions in Algeria, South Africa, Morocco, and the panel, in the short-run; however, it positively impacts CO2 pollution in Nigeria, Egypt, and the panel, in the long-run. Again, investment exerts a positive effect on CO2 in South Africa and Algeria, whereas it is negative in Nigeria, Egypt, and Morocco. Capital investment also expands short-run pollution in the panel, but it reduces long-run pollution. Lastly, the energy-investment interaction reduces the panel's CO2 pollution in the short-run and long-run, as well as, in Morocco, Egypt, Nigeria, and South Africa, except in Algeria. Thus, we conclude that capital investment is crucial in the energy-pollution nexus and suggest cooperation in attracting low-carbon emitting investments to the region.

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The year 2020 was ushered in with a historical novel virus (COVID-19) pandemic in a manner that the world has never witnessed before. The human-to-human transmission rates of the virus are not only alarming and worrisome but also, the respiratory dysfunction and unwavering deaths it caused have risen global concerns. We employ the daily situation data on reported cases of COVID-19 to explicate the implications of the lockdown lifting in Nigeria using both qualitative and descriptive statistics. The study is particularly motivated by the urgency of need to inform policymakers and the government on the pending danger of an unplanned phased lifting of lockdown, which contravenes medical standards at the local and international fora. Of the three episodes of COVID-19 identified in Nigeria, the easing up phases witness the highest cases of the virus with the addition of over 32,000 in just 73 days. Besides, there are clear indications that the pre-planning processes that led to easing the lockdown did not adhere to the global practices and guidelines as stipulated by WHO. Every day of the easing phase of the lockdown has witnessed an increasing number of cases indicating the possibility is that the COVID 19 cases may escalate in future dates. By implication, the healthcare system is at the risk of being overwhelmed and thus unable to rescue the situation which could further aggravate the number of untimely death afflicting the citizens.

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Both the clinical and epidemiological significance attached to COVID-19 cases by a small, but growing literature on coronavirus are not in any way undermined by the relevance of political economy and multidimensional impacts of other factors on the virus, particularly from country specific stance. In light of the stark reality, this study unravels the political economy and multidimensional factors of COVID-19 cases in Nigeria using the daily data spanning 27th of February through 26th of May, 2020. This paper deploys a variety of count data estimators to estimate the effects of political economy and ethno-religious factors on COVID-19 cases in Nigeria. The parameter estimates reveal that the odds of the Hausa ethnic group in human-to-human transmission of the virus, to be in the "Certain Zero" group is relatively less as compared to other ethnic groups in the country. A plausible reason, particularly for the vulnerable group can be attributed, in part, to their low levels of educational attainment as well as their staunch religious belief with respect to the act of soul taking as being the exclusive property of the creator than the created. Thus, addressing ethno-religious concerns together with socioeconomic factors remain the formidable mitigation policy choices to combating the scourge of the global virus of COVID-19.

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The study examines the extent to which lockdown measures impact on COVID-19 confirmed cases in Nigeria. Six indicators of lockdown entailing retail and recreation, grocery and pharmacy, parks, transit stations, workplaces, and residential, are considered. The empirical evidence is anchored on the negative binomial regression estimator, due to the count nature of the dataset on the daily cases of the virus. The study established the key following findings: First, retail and recreation, grocery and pharmacy, parks, transit stations, and workplaces are statistically significant and negatively signed as relevant predictors of the virus. Second, the impact of residential is positive and statistically significant at the conventional level. Lastly, the results are robust to an alternative estimator of Poisson Regression. The emanated policy message centres on the need to direct efforts toward ensuring total compliance to the lockdown rules as it holds the key to keeping the virus under check.