THE IMPACTS OF ECONOMIC GROWTH, RENEWABLE ENERGY CONSUMPTION AND FINANCIAL DEVELOPMENT ON ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION IN NIGERIA
Abstract
ABSTRACT
Environmental degradation has become one of the most pressing challenges facing Nigeria’s development. Despite experiencing sustained economic growth over the past two decades, this growth has been largely driven by extractive and carbon-intensive sectors such as oil and gas, which contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, pollution, and ecosystem destruction. Therefore, the study investigated the impact of economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and financial development on environmental degradation in Nigeria, from 1995-2024, using Auto-regressive distributed lag (ARDL). The ARDL estimate showed that GDP had an insignificant relationship with CO₂ emissions in both the short and long run; renewable energy consumption had a significant positive effect on CO₂ emissions in the short run, but an infinitesimal effect in the long run; while financial development had insignificant effects on CO₂ emissions in both the short and long run. These findings suggest that environmental degradation in Nigeria is influenced by multiple factors, including natural disasters, and that the impact of economic growth, renewable energy consumption. The study concluded that environmental degradation in Nigeria is caused by many factors. Therefore, recommended that Nigerian government should focus on avenues to enhance her renewable energy infrastructure to ensure a smoother transition to cleaner energy sources. This can be done through investing in energy storage technologies, improving grid resilience, and promoting research and development in renewable energy.
Keywords: Economic growth, Renewable energy consumption, Financial development and Environmental degradation.
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