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Given a new perspective on the environmental hypothesis, this paper systematically investigates the validity of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), pollution haven, and pollution halo hypotheses using carbon efficiency as the dependent variable. Applying the dynamic autoregressive distributed lag simulations based on the annual time series data over the period 1990-2019, the study found that real GDP per capita has negative effects on China's environmental quality both in the short and long run, whereas the square of real GDP per capita has positive impacts. This validates the EKC hypothesis for China. Furthermore, foreign direct investment has negative effects on environmental quality in China, implying that the case of China exemplifies the pollution haven hypothesis and not the pollution halo hypothesis. The empirical results also demonstrate that energy efficiency and trade openness improve China's environmental quality both in the short run and long run. These findings, therefore, provide insights into achieving the ambitious climate goals in China by 2050.

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The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) countries share a common context of critical ecological issues and trans border conflicts that threaten the quality of life and long-term stability of the region. The lack of water and arable land in particular has been a significant aspect of the region's history, but in more recent times, these pressures have grown in correlation with development patterns. Previous studies in this regard based on MENA countries data have failed to capture the holistic impact of the environmental risk factors on health outcomes. This study examines the bearable link between ecology and health outcomes, accounting for the criticality of human capital and energy use in the MENA region. The study employs second generation econometrics methods - system GMM, panel quantile regression via moments, and Dumitrescu-Hurlin causality test on panel data covering 2008-2017. The empirical results establish a trade-off between the ecological factors and health outcomes. Specifically, ecological footprint as a measure of environmental quality is positively related to health outcomes, while biocapacity is negatively and insignificantly associated with health outcomes. Both effects of the two environmental factors are undesirable. Furthermore, the results show that human capital has the desired positive and significant effect on health outcomes, while the effect of energy use is negative. Based on the findings, the study provides several policy options that would help to deescalate the pressure on the natural resources.

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The objective of this study is to investigate the role of democracy, ecological footprint, economic growth, and globalisation in enhancing sustainable electricity consumption in an ecological reserve-based country of Brazil over the period 1971-2014. To achieve this objective, the minimum Lagrange multiplier (LM) unit root and Bayer-Hanck combined cointegration tests are applied. The model is estimated using the fully modified ordinary least squares (FM-OLS) and dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) estimation procedures. The empirical results suggest that all the variables have a positive and significant effect on electricity consumption. This implies that increasing the level of these variables would stimulate electricity consumption. The long-run causality results indicate a one-way causality running from ecological footprint, democracy, and globalisation to electricity consumption. The results further discover that causality flows from ecological footprint, democracy, and globalisation to economic growth. In addition, a long-run bidirectional causal relationship between electricity consumption and economic growth is uncovered. In the short run, the result validates a bidirectional causality between ecological footprint and electricity consumption. More so, electricity consumption causes economic growth and democracy, whilst economic growth causes globalisation. The results are validated by the innovation accounting tests. The policy implication of the findings is that ecological-based conservation policies could have negative consequences on economic growth and electricity consumption because of a significant dependence of these two variables on the ecological footprint. Therefore, to guarantee sustainable electricity consumption, sufficient and sustainable green energy and optimum energy mix should be encouraged by the stakeholders.

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