Economic Growth and Environmental Degradation, Renewable Energy and Consumption-based Carbon Emissions in India (1990-2021): A Descriptive Analytic Case Study

Abstract

India’s rapid economic expansion presents a critical challenge in balancing growth with environmental sustainability, making it a pivotal case for testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. This study provides a novel contribution by examining the EKC for India from 1990 to 2021 using a consumption-based metric for CO₂ emissions, which accounts for emissions embedded in trade. Employing the ARDL bounds testing approach, we analyze the roles of renewable energy consumption and globalization alongside economic growth. The results provide evidence for an inverted U-shaped EKC relationship, indicating that environmental degradation initially increases with economic growth but eventually declines after a certain income threshold is surpassed. Renewable energy consumption is found to significantly reduce emissions, whereas globalization exhibits an insignificant impact. Robustness checks using DOLS and Johansen cointegration confirm these findings. The study underscores the importance of promoting renewable energy and strategically managing economic growth to achieve environmental sustainabilityPolicy recommendations include accelerating green energy adoption and enforcing stringent environmental standards for foreign investment.