Caglar, Abdullah Emre; Destek, Mehmet Akif; Manga, Muge

Although it takes time to achieve a sustainable environment, this goal can be possible with the Sustainable Development Goals. The transition from gray energy sources to green in the 21st century is among the important policy goals of global economies. Since this process is long, countries focus on energy efficiency as part of their carbon reduction policies. In this context, this study investigates the impact of clean energy technologies on environmental quality in Turkiye. Using the load capacity curve (LCC) hypothesis, human capital, income, and natural resources are theoretically added to the balance model. The novel Augmented ARDL with Fourier terms approach is used in the empirical analysis. As a result of the analysis, the LCC hypothesis is valid, and income will support environmental quality after a certain level. While human capital increases environmental quality, natural resources bring environmental pollution. Finally, it is determined that clean energy technologies have not yet reached the level that enables carbon reduction. The finding that clean energy technologies are insufficient for Turkiye, as a result of empirical analysis, shows the uniqueness of this study. With our new findings, policymakers can take action for a sustainable environment. Since Turkiye has to ensure energy security due to its regional characteristics, it should increase investments in clean energy technologies. Based on empirical findings, clean energy technologies will gain momentum as policymakers support human capital.

Destek, Mehmet Akif; Yıldırım, Metin; Manga, Müge

The argument that foreign direct investments inflows in developing countries harm the environmental quality of these countries is evaluated within the scope of Pollution Haven Hypothesis. However, the Pollution Halo Hypothesis, the counterargument, contends that foreign investment has several positive effects on the environmental circumstances in the host nation. Therefore, firstly the unit root properties of variables and cointegration existence among variables are checked with newly developed panel data techniques that both allows cross-sectional dependence and structural breaks. In addition, using recently established CS-ARDL technique for high-income developing nations (BRICS-T), this research examines the effects of foreign direct investment on the environment as well as whether environmental regulations and financial development have changed the potential haven hypothesis into the halo hypothesis for the period from 1995 to 2020. The pollution haven theory holds true for these nations, according to the results of empirical research. On the other side, it is determined that tighter environmental restrictions support the environmental quality, and the usage of renewable energy also improves environmental quality, even if economic growth harms environmental quality. In addition, it is found that both regulations and financial development has a moderating role on reversing the haven to halo.

Pata, Ugur Korkut; Destek, Mehmet Akif; Manga, Muge; Cengiz, Orhan

This study evaluates the effects of military expenditures (MEX) on environmental pollution, as well as the moderating role of factors such as financial development and technological progress for 15 NATO member countries under the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis. Using the CS-ARDL estimator, the study analyzes the effects of MEX, income, energy consumption, financial development, and technical progress on carbon emissions spanning the period from 1991 to 2018. Additionally, interaction terms are employed to regularize the moderating effects of financial development and technical advancement. The results show that income, energy consumption, and MEX all contribute to a rise in emissions. It is also found that the financial sector does not eradicate the detrimental ramifications of MEX on the environment, but that technological progress has a moderating effect. A 1% increase in the interaction of technological progress with the military sector reduces environmental degradation by 0.36, but a 1% augment in the interaction of the financial sector with the military sector increases carbon emissions by 0.41%. For this reason, it is imperative to evaluate and revise the financing of MEX of NATO countries from an environmental perspective for sustainable development. Furthermore, as long-run income elasticity in NATO countries is lower than the short-run one, the EKC hypothesis is valid. Based on the overall findings, the study suggests that NATO allies should incorporate the benefits of income growth and technological development into their environmental policies to offset the negative effects of MEX.