Environmental costs of political instability in Pakistan: policy options for clean energy consumption and environment

Abstract Using time-series data of Pakistan from 1990 to 2019, this study explores the asymmetric effects of political instability on clean energy consumption and CO2 emissions. The results from the traditional ARDL model show that political stability lessens environmental damage by reducing CO2 emissions in the long run. However, when we used the nonlinear ARDL approach we found that political instability reduces the consumption of clean energy but also leads to damage environmental quality in long run in Pakistan. While political stability increases the consumption of clean energy but also helps to improve environmental quality in the short run in Pakistan. Thus, macroeconomic policies to promote expansion in clean energy consumption will directly stimulate green economic growth and environmental quality.