Economy and Pollution by CO2 Emissions - Kuznets Environmental Curve in Asia Pacific Countries

The economies of the Asia Pacific region (APEC) are among the most dynamic, with the highest levels of commercial activity and environmental degradation in the world. One way to study trends in the relationship between the economy and pollution is the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). This perspective assumed that in the long-term, higher levels of wealth would be achieve lower pollution levels. The aim was analyze whether the EKC behavior occurs for the APEC economies. The method used was an econometric model for carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and GDP. The results showed stationary unit root in first differences, this suggest the presence of EKC behavior was explained with a high probability level that the GDP coefficient would reach an inflection point to become negative and significant.