Impact of Economic Affluence on CO2 Emissions in CEE Countries

There is huge evidence for a relationship between economic growth and environmental degradation. One of the causes of environmental degradation is CO₂ emission which is added to the atmosphere through human activities and excessive industrialization. The aim of this research is to examine the relationship between CO₂ emissions and measures of wealth in countries of Central and Eastern Europe between 2000 and 2019. The paper extends the research on economic affluence by taking into consideration two measures of economic growth, in addition to GDP, the HDI index is included. The basis for the investigation is the EKC concept. All analyses are based on econometric models with GDP and the HDI index as independent variables. The results are not conclusive and there is no one model which best describes the relationship between CO₂ emissions and economic growth. Verification of the models indicates the better fit of models with the HDI index as the measure of affluence. Moreover, the study confirms that the key factors affecting CO₂ emissions are energy consumption per capita which leads to an increase in CO₂ emissions, and renewable energy consumption which reduces CO₂ emissions. Therefore, technological changes and an increase in human awareness of global sustainability are required.