The role of agricultural innovations, renewable energy and economic growth in the CO₂ emissions of Nepal: an empirical evidence from the environmental Kuznets curve

Using the Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework, this study aimed to quantify the effects of agricultural innovation, the use of renewable energy, and economic growth on CO₂ emissions in Nepal from 1990 to 2018. To examine the empirical findings, the current study used fully modified ordinary least squares and canonical cointegration estimators to derive the long-run associations between the variables. Similarly, the study used the Toda–Yamamoto causal test to determine the causal relationships. The empirical findings disproved the existence of an EKC with an inverted U form. Furthermore, agricultural innovations were shown to lead to long-term improvements in environmental quality. Similarly, the findings indicated that urbanization and renewable energy significantly lower Nepal’s CO₂ emissions. The causal test explored the unilateral linkages from agricultural innovations to CO₂ emissions and renewable energy to CO₂ emissions. In contrast, the results indicated bidirectional causal associations between income and CO₂ emissions and agricultural innovations and CO₂ emissions. These results are unique and have substantial policy implications discussed in the study.