research paper on environmental issues in india

Current World Environment

An international research journal of environmental science.

ISSN:0973-4929, Online ISSN:2320-8031

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Environmental Issues and their Possible Solutions for Sustainable Development, India: A Review

1 Amity School of Earth and Environmental Science (ASEES), Amity University, Gurugram, Haryan, India 2 Centre of Advanced Study in Botany, Institute of Science, Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh India 3 Department of Industrial Waste Management, Central University of Haryana, Mahendergarh, Haryana India 4 Department of Environmental Science, Shri Vishwakarma Skill University, Palwal, Haryan, India

Corresponding author Email: [email protected]

DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.17.3.3

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Kumar S, Singh P, Verma K, Kumar P, Yadav A. Environmental Issues and their Possible Solutions for Sustainable Development, India: A Review. Curr World Environ 2022;17(3). DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.12944/CWE.17.3.3

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Kumar S, Singh P, Verma K, Kumar P, Yadav A. Environmental Issues and their Possible Solutions for Sustainable Development, India: A Review. Curr World Environ 2022;17(3).

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Introduction 

Human activities are the main factors in the destruction of Earth's living conditions. Human impact has led to a rise in the amount of greenhouse gas emissions, global warming, soil contamination, natural resource depletion and contamination of the soil, water, and air, species extinction, the build-up of dangerous recalcitrant compounds, and other difficulties. Several conferences have emphasized the influence of environmental challenges in recent decades. However, the depth of understanding in order to define the term "environmental sustainability" is extremely poor, with disparities in the views considering the perspectives of distinct groups or individuals working in different occupations (Vezzoli and Manzini, 2008).The world's expanding environmental concerns are largely associated with increased human activity. The outlook for the availability of land, environmental health, and diversity has been steadily decreasing, with expectations of even worse conditions by 2050. To attain the aims of environmental sustainability that have so far been lacking, it is critical to incorporate the ecological and biological components. To rid the planet of anthropogenic concerns, an integrated strategy is essential on an urgent and ongoing basis. Biological techniques must be at the forefront and used to their full potential in order to accomplish environmental sustainability goals. This study discusses important environmental concerns, followed by remedies incorporating biological techniques to attain sustainable development, which has been researched and forecasted. Environmental challenges are a significant priority for all governments and scholars worldwide. The way things are going, a number of severe environmental concerns may even be dangerous to human civilization. Several significant environmental issues are currently afflicting the world, with grave consequences for living species. This section discusses the most prominent environmental concern (Rockstorm et al. 2018). 

Environmental deterioration is a global issue that has an impact on the entire world. All types of living things are affected by pollution in some way. Even species that live in the poles or at the bottom of the ocean are affected by pollution. Anthropogenic activity has led to the emergence of numerous pollutants in recent decades, which have a detrimental impact on the ecosystem (Rockström et al. 2018). Industrialization, urbanization, and deforestation rates are making conditions in developing countries worse. Green house gases continuously increasing day by day and adversely impact the environment. Greenhouse gases mainly consist nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbon, methane and carbon dioxide. 

 About 92 percent of all pollution-related deaths occur in developing countries (Landrigan et al. 2017). Urban pollution has a negative impact on the quality of the land, water, and air (Solé-Ribalta et al. 2016). By 2030, the UN predicts that the number of people living in cities will have quadrupled (UN 2014). Different types of pollution can raise the annual health-care budget in low- and high-income countries upto1.7 percent and 7 percent (Landrigan et al. 2017) (Table 1).

Table 1: Major air pollutants and their examples (Ileperuma, 2000).

Meanwhile, the true costs of restoring resources like air, soil, and water have yet to be calculated. Every year, a diverse spectrum of contaminants is discharged into water bodies as a result of industrial emissions. The effect of Chlorofluorocarbons on the depletion of the ozone layer is widely understood. Researchers now assume that chemicals used in the paint industry are to blame for the thinning of the ozone layer in non-polar zones (Carrington 2018). The globe utilizes a staggering amount of fossil fuels to meet its energy needs, which is one of the major contributors to atmospheric pollution. Plastics also have a negative effect on the environment. Wieczorek et al. (2018) and Borrelle et al. (2017) did similar research, showing the effects of plastic on aquatic vegetation in the seas. Despite the horrifying repercussions of plastics, their manufacturing is expanding and the planet is becoming a dumping ground for these non-biodegradable creatures. Heavy metals have been damaging land and water as a result of rapid urbanization, industrialization, and other human activities (Yadav, 2010). Although heavy metals are naturally present, dangerous concentrations are being reached due to anthropogenic activity (Mishra et al. 2017). 

Heavy metals in soil are primarily caused by agricultural and industrial wastewater, household sewage, oil spills, mining, industrial activities like processing of metal, nuclear power, combustion of fossil fuels, metal corrosion, polymers, and fabrics (WHO 2010; Yan et al. 2018). Both water and soil have been found to contain heavy metal contamination across the world. Because of lead poisoning in the lake, the supply of water in Michigan, North America, was transferred through the Flint River and Lake Huron in 2014. The issue damaged the water supply further, Moreover, the President of the United States declared an emergency due to serious lead pollution of drinking water (Wendling et al. 2018). Over 89 percent of drinking water samples in Karachi, Pakistan, were determined to be lead-polluted. Latin America has some of the most polluted cities in the world, owing to poor heavy metal mining practices. Arctic surface soils have been shown to be contaminated with traces of mercury (Hg) and other elements. Mining activity in parts of the Arctic and Siberia contributes to heavy metal poisoning of soils. The paper's primary goal is to show serious environmental issues and sustainability challenges in the most intensively cultivated nation, such as India. The first half of the article in this review discusses the main environmental problems, and then the remedies, which involve biological methods to attain environmental sustainability, have been investigated and anticipated (Fig. 1).

Location of the study area

In this study we try to highlight the environmental issues and there possible solutions in India. The global phenomena of environmental deterioration brought on by development activities are not unique to India. As a result of industrialization, urbanization, transportation, the burning of fossil fuels, and deforestation, which have all contributed to economic growth and development at the expense of environmental degradation, greenhouse gas emissions that have contributed to global warming and climate change have been released. Deforestation has increased significantly as a result of urbanization and a growing human population. Water reservoirs' lifespan is shortened by soil erosion and sedimentation brought on by deforestation. Many plants and animals are in danger of going extinct because of habitat degradation. Environmental degradation, pollution from industrial effluents and vehicle emissions, indoor air pollution and air quality, water pollution from raw sewage, inadequate sanitation, depletion of potable water resources, soil pollution, sound pollution, deforestation, agricultural land degradation, habitat destruction, loss of biodiversity, resource depletion, and others are all a result of India's rapidly growing population and economic development (Kumar, 2019).

Materials and Methods

Based on our recent research and other literatures concerning environmental issues and solutions in India, this review aims to provide an overview of environmental issues and solutions to suggest research trends in future work.

Agricultural Residues Burning 

An additional environmental risk in India is the open burning of crop waste in rural areas, especially during the rice harvesting season. The topic of burning agricultural trash in fields makes the front pages of newspapers in Delhi NCR twice a year, in the months of October and December. The region's ambient air quality has deteriorated due to the results of a static atmosphere state above Delhi during the Kharif agricultural harvest time (Kanawade et al., 2019). Due to year-round crop farming, India, the second-largest agrarian economy in the world, produces a substantial amount of agricultural waste, including leftover crops. Many different forms of surplus crop leftovers are burned depending on the agro-climatic zone, particularly in the northern regions of Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, and Rajasthan; nonetheless, rice crop residues account for over half of all crop residues burned in the nation. Farmer’s burn crop remnants left in the field after using combine harvesters to prepare the soil for the next crop in the simplest way feasible. There are around 178 million tones of surplus agricultural byproducts in the nation. The burning of these trashes worsens air quality and raises pollution levels. Burning agricultural wastes significantly increases PM 2.5 concentrations. The amount of residue burned in a short period of time (a few weeks) makes a considerable contribution to pollutant levels like PM 2.5. The following crop wastes were burned, Maize (11.2), Cotton (9.8), Rice (9.3), Wheat (8.5), and Sugarcane (12.0%). According to several studies, the concentration of organic carbon and its fertility are negatively impacted by open burning of agricultural waste (Hesammi et al. 2014). 

Water Pollution 

Another significant issue in India is water contamination. About 60% of sewage in urban areas is untreated sewage, which regularly enters various bodies of water. As a result, the water becomes contaminated and unfit for human consumption. Farmers also routinely use contaminated river water to cultivate their crops, endangering their health and compromising the food supply in India. Numerous waterways have high levels of heavy metal pollution, including the Ganges, the country's main river and a holy river to Hindus, where thousands of people wash daily and congregate for the Kumbh Mela, the biggest religious festival in the world. 

According to a NITI Aayog assessment (2018), India has witnessed the worst water problem, with 600 million Indians enduring severe water deficit stress and more than 100000 people dying each year due to a lack of safe drinking water. According to the report, India ranks at the bottom of the water quality index. The government intends to reroute 30 rivers to alleviate the country's catastrophic water problem, raising environmental worries. The Central Water Commission (CWC) investigated 67 rivers throughout 20 river basins. The results of the third edition of an exercise undertaken by the Central Water Commission (CWC) from May 2014 to April 2018 revealed that just one-third of water quality stations' samples were safe. Heavy metals contaminated the remaining 287 (65%) of the samples collected. Two metals contaminated samples from 101 stations, and three metals contaminated samples from six stations. Heavy metals like Pb, Ni, Cr, Cd, and Cu were among the other main pollutants discovered in the samples and Contamination from Pb, Cd, Ni, Cr, and Cu was more common during non-monsoon seasons, whereas Fe, Pb, Cr, and Cu often exceeded 'tolerance levels' during monsoon periods. Ar and Zn are metals whose concentrations were always within the study's limitations.

Desertification 

India is the second-largest manufacturer of agricultural goods in the global despite having a little amount of land. Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries make for 17% of the country's GDP and employ around 50% of the entire labour force. Soil deterioration is caused by both natural and man-made factors (Bhattacharyya et al., 2015). Anthropogenically induced soil degradation outcomes from land clearing and forest destruction, inappropriate farming techniques, inefficient management of industrial wastes and over-grazing ( Osman, 2014) . Excessive tillage and machinery use, use of inorganic fertilizers, pesticide usage and organic carbon inputs are examples of inappropriate agricultural practices (Karlen and Rice, 2015).

Sustainable solutions 

The aforementioned environmental concerns generated debate over what actions should be done to prevent further environmental damage. Regardless of the fact that scientists have been researching the extent and significance of these environmental challenges for years, little progress was made in fulfilling the objectives. Aside from that, environmentally friendly solutions are sometimes overlooked in favour of technical solutions. As a result, in order to build a sustainable ecosystem, a repair plan that incorporates biological treatments or more environmentally friendly methods must be implemented (Fig. 3). This section explores long-term remedies, mostly biological methods, to the problems caused by man-made activity.

Achieving environmental sustainability through microbes 

Microbes are ubiquitous and may be found in all parts of the environment. Microbes in nature are exceedingly varied, and their vast dispersion implies that they might play a vital role in ecosystem preservation. Because of their adaptability microbes can be exploited because of their genetic makeup and diverse metabolic capabilities to solve a wide range of environmental issues (Ahmad et al. 2011; Mishra et al. 2017; Akinsemolu, 2018). According to Khatoon et al. (2017), biodegradation is a critical method for eliminating different polymeric pollutants employing microbial applications. Microorganisms can be used to solve problems in a straightforward and cost-effective manner, with few inputs and complications. Microbes can be an important instrument in the fight against pollution. Microorganisms are outstanding cleaners (Gupta et al. 2018). The process of eliminating toxins from the environment by biological processes, mostly microorganisms, is known as biodegradation. Microbial treatments are used as acceptable replacements for many traditional waste disposal procedures. To detoxify a broad variety of microorganisms can be utilized. Microorganisms or other biological systems are used in bioremediation to convert contaminants into less dangerous ones (Coelho et al. 2015).  Positive, environmentally responsible, and successful technique for removing dangerous pollutants from the surroundings is bioremediation (Lal et al. 2018; Abhilash et al. 2016; Kotoky et al. 2018). Human health is put at risk by contaminated soil, which also causes numerous environmental issues such as nutrient loss and groundwater contamination (Fredua 2014; Panagos et al. 2018). Long-term tools for removing contaminants from agricultural areas and assisting in soil repair include microbes (Verma et al. 2017). A cheap method for decontaminating places that have been affected by pollutants is microbial bioremediation. Because of the increasing severity of pollutants, ocean and coastal region pollution is a significant issue on a global scale. Both Sakthipriya et al. (2015) and Parthipan et al. (2017) successfully used microorganisms that develop bio-surfactants to bio-remediate petroleum pollutants. An article on the microorganisms used in the oil spill bioremediation in saltwater and along the coast was published in 2016 by Tanzadeh and Ghasemi. In order to maintain environmental sustainability, microbes recycle thermal, agricultural, and industrial waste and remediate wastewater (Sharma et al. 2013). A significant worry is the release of industrial effluents. 

Role in sustainable agriculture 

Soil fertility is a term that refers to the availability of nutrients as well as the microbial communities that thrive in the soil (Lazcano et al. 2013). Soil bacteria make agro-ecosystems fertile and crop productivity high by maintaining ecological equilibrium. However, as a result of high chemical input into agricultural ecosystems, many of these useful bacteria are becoming reduced or extinct in the soil. Aside from that, as previously said, there are a number of other downsides of using chemical fertilizers and pesticides (Helsel, 1992; Popp et al, 2013). As a result, beneficial soil bacteria must be introduced into both impacted and unaffected agro-ecosystems in order to increase yields in an environmentally friendly way. The rhizosphere is an elevated zone that contains a wide diversity of microorganisms that are primarily mutualistic with the host organism and provide assistance in several ways (Hartmann et al. 2008). Among the many microbes that inhabit the rhizosphere, are the most efficient contributors to sustaining agro-ecosystem production. PGPR are crucial plant root colonizers that may be found in huge numbers in the rhizosphere (Spaepen et al. 2008). The capacity of microbe’s boosts their levels in plants makes them great candidates for eco-friendly crop biofortification (Vessey, 2003). Microbes have successfully chelated micronutrients. Biofortified crops are becoming more popular in order to satisfy the population's dietary needs (Nooria et al. 2014). 

Table 2: Examples of substantial contaminated site remediation employing microorganisms.

Conclusion 

The long-term sustainability of the environment is vital to humanity's survival. In any event, we must conserve our ecosystem and habitats in order to sustain life on the blue planet, particularly human life. The current pace of the amount of destruction is substantially greater than the ability of ecosystems to recover or heal, and this must be reversed as quickly as feasible. We should switch to green substitutes if we want to rehabilitate the environment and deliver things ahead to normal since anthropogenic activities are destabilizing the globe. Microorganisms and plants, among other biological tools and entities, can aid in the restoration of polluted ecosystems and the reduction of the effects of global warming and climate change. Sustainability is the buzzword of the day, and if we don't get to work and start paying attention immediately, things can get out of hand. Using environmentally friendly and low-input biotechnological technologies, many of the issues highlighted and discovered in this study can be resolved. We have only begun to scrape the surface; further work and study are necessary. The Earth is diverse and, despite tremendous destruction, the majority of it is still undamaged, making it possible to solve environmental challenges with cutting-edge biotechnology technologies and methodologies.

Conflict of Interest

The authors do not have any conflicts of interest.

Funding Sources

The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Environmental sustainability, trade and economic growth in India: implications for public policy

International Trade, Politics and Development

ISSN : 2586-3932

Article publication date: 10 November 2020

Issue publication date: 14 December 2020

Based on the hypothesis of the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC), the purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between environmental pollutants (as measured by CO 2 emissions) and GDP for India, over the period 1980–2012. The presence of an inverted “ U ” shape relationship is examined while controlling for factors such as the degree of trade openness, foreign direct investment, oil prices, the legal system and industrialization.

Design/methodology/approach

To verify whether the EKC follows a linear, quadratic or polynomial form, autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach for cointegration with structural breaks is adopted. The annual time series data for carbon emissions (CO 2 ), economic growth (GDP), industrial development (industrialization), foreign direct investment and trade openness have been obtained from World Development Indicators online database. Crude oil price (international price index) for the period is collected from the International Monetary Fund. Data for total petroleum consumption are collected from the US Energy Information Agency. Data for economic freedom variables are from the Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom Index's online database.

The findings support the existence of inverted U -shaped EKC in the short-run, but not in the long-run. A linear monotonic relationship has also been estimated in select model specifications. Additionally, trade openness has been estimated to reduce emissions in models, which incorporate FDI. Else, where significant, its impact on carbon emissions is adverse. A rise in fuel price leads to reduction in carbon emissions across model specifications. Further, the lower size of government degrades the environment both in the long-run and short-run.

Practical implications

Given the existence of the pollution haven hypothesis, wherein more trade and foreign direct investments cause environmental degradation, the paper proposes formulation of appropriate regulatory mechanisms that are environmentally friendly. Additionally, India's new economic policies, favoring liberalization, privatization and globalization, reinforces the need to strengthen environmental regulations.

Originality/value

Incorporation of economic freedom as measured by the “Size of Government” in the EKC model is unique. “Size of Government” deserves a special mention. The rationale for including this explanatory variable is to understand whether countries with lower government size are more polluting. After all, theory does suggest that goods and services, which have higher social cost vis-à-vis private cost, shall be overproduced in economies that adopt more market-friendly policies, necessitating government intervention. In the study, size of government is measured as per the definition and methodology adopted by Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom of the World Index.

• Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC)
• Trade openness
• Foreign direct investment
• Economic freedom
• Size of government
• Autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL)

Sajeev, A. and Kaur, S. (2020), "Environmental sustainability, trade and economic growth in India: implications for public policy", International Trade, Politics and Development , Vol. 4 No. 2, pp. 141-160. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITPD-09-2020-0079

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2020, Aparna Sajeev and Simrit Kaur

Published in International Trade, Politics and Development . Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This article is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) license. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this article (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this license may be seen at: http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

1. Introduction

Energy has always been closely associated with economic growth and development. However, in the process the negative externalities associated with the usage of energy have not been taken care of adequately. Adverse externalities are major roadblocks to sustainable development. Climate change caused by anthropogenic global warming can undoubtedly be considered as the major hurdle to sustainable development. Left unmanaged, climate change may reverse the development progress and compromise the safety and security of present as well as future generations. According to the IPPC's fifth assessment report (AR5), the period between 1983 and 2012 has been the warmest 30-year period in the Northern Hemisphere. It is primarily caused by increased concentration of CO 2, CH 4 and nitrous oxide since industrialization. In fact, the concentration of CO 2 in 2012 was 40% more than it was in the mid-1800s [1] . Fossil fuel and land use changes primarily cause global increase of CO 2 concentration. Crude oil accounted for 39% of the world total primary energy source in 2017 and contributed to 33% of the global CO 2 emissions. In 2018, CO 2 emissions reached a historic high of 33.1 Gt. Nearly two-thirds of global emissions for 2011 originated from only 10 countries, with shares of China (25.4%) and the United States (16.9%) far surpassing the rest. Combined, these two countries alone produced 13.2 Gt of CO 2 . The two high emitter countries are followed by India, Russian Federation, Japan, Germany, Korea, Canada, Islamic Republic of Iran and Saudi Arabia. Further, by 2012, Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries emissions had increased to 39% of the total world emissions, from 27% in 1992. As represented in Figure 1 , a quarter of the total world emissions in fact are from China alone. India presently is the third largest emitter of CO 2 in the world. The emissions of Brazil and India as a percentage of total emissions in the world doubled in 2012 compared to 1992. Over the same period, Russia and South Africa's contribution to total world emissions decreased to 5 (from 9.44%) and 1% (from 1.5%), respectively, over the same period.

Globally, crude oil prices fell from 100US$ per barrel in mid-2014 to below 30US$ per barrel in early 2016. Natural gas and coal prices also fell during this period. International Monetary Fund (IMF) quantifies lower fossil fuel prices to act as a form of economic stimulus. According to World Energy Outlook ( WEO, 2015 ), lower oil prices not only supports growth, but stimulates oil use as well. It also diminishes the case for efficiency investments for switching to alternative fuels.

For emerging economies such as India, [2] it is important to understand how much environment friendly its economic growth is India's GDP growth rate and carbon emissions increased steadily over the period 1980–2013. India's GDP growth rate peaked at around 10% in 2010 and then slowly moved down to around 7% by 2013. In Figure 2 , India's real GDP and carbon emissions from total energy consumption, as well as, from petroleum consumption for the period 1980–2013 are presented. India's real GDP witnessed a steady increase from around US $0.2tn in 1980 to around US$1.48tn in 2013. A similar increasing pattern is witnessed in carbon emissions from total energy consumption, which increased from around 291 million metric tonnes in 1980 to around 1830 million metric tonnes in 2012. Similarly, India's carbon emissions from petroleum consumption also increased from around 100 million metric tonnes in 1980 to around 435 million metric tonnes in 2012.

Government policies in developing countries are crucial in deciding the flow of foreign direct investment (FDI) to these countries. According to the UN trade body, India is the 9th largest recipient of FDI of US$52 bn in 2019. The net inflow of FDI as a percentage of GDP though is considerably small for India, it has increased from 0.02% in 1991 to 3.62% in 2008. By 2019, the net flow of FDI is at 1.76%. India's new economic policy of liberalization, privatization and globalization adopted in 1991 led to this increase in FDI inflow/outflow. However, one of the key factors influencing foreign investment in developing countries like India, is that they set environmental standards below efficiency levels. As international trade relates one country to another, developing and underdeveloped economies rely on technology transfer through FDI that may reduce pollution in the long-run ( Dinda, 2004 ; Dean, 2004 ; Wheeler, 2000 ).

Pressure is mounting on India to commit for a legally binding agreement on cutting CO 2 emissions. Under such circumstances, the need to examine the impact of various contributing factors to CO 2 emissions cannot be negated. In this regard, an important element to analyze is the impact of GDP on CO 2 emissions. This hypothesized inverted U -shaped relationship between environment pollutant and economic growth in economic literature is referred to as the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC).

Simon Kuznets first proposed the inverted U -shaped relationship in 1955, while explaining the relationship between income inequality and per capita income. The Kuznets curve was adapted in environmental economics literature in 1990's by economists such as Grossman and Kruger (1991) , Shafik and Bandhyopadhay (1992) , Panayotou (1993) and Selden and Song (1994) . The EKC hypothesis summarizes a dynamic process of change – namely, as income of an economy grows over time, emission levels first grow; reach a crest and then start turning down after a threshold level of income ( Y 1 ) has been attained ( Figure 3 ). Further, as the economy reaches income levels higher than Y 2 , the direction of relationship between environmental degradation and per capita income (GDP) changes. Beyond Y 2 , both environmental degradation and GDP move in the same direction. EKC is a long-term phenomenon and does not make an explicit reference to time. It is a development path for a single economy that grows through different stages over time. Other things remaining constant, in their process of development, each country experiences income and emission situations lying on the specific EKC. While a typical EKC is an inverted U -shaped curve, linear and N-shaped curves are also plausible.

Scale effects, technological effects and composition effects are the three channels through which economic growth affects the environmental quality ( Grossman and Krueger, 1991 ). In this initial stage of economic development, pollution increases with increasing output. As, the economy transforms from an industrial to a service economy, the pollution level plateaus. Also, with technical progress like the adaption of cleaner technologies, pollution level further reduces. Thus, scale effect that has a negative impact on the environment dominates the first stage; then with economic growth, composition effect and the technological effect that has a positive impact on the environment start dominating; thereby the inverted- U shaped curve.

International trade is a crucial factor that can explain EKC. As trade volume increases, environmental quality could decline or improve because of opposing directional impacts of scale effect, composition effect and technique effect. The composition effect is associated with two related hypotheses: displacement hypothesis and pollution haven hypothesis (PHH) ( Dinda, 2004 ). The displacement hypothesis states that trade liberalization or openness will lead to the more rapid growth of pollution-intensive industries in less developed economies, as developed economies enforce strict environmental regulations ( Harrison, 1996 ; Rock, 1996 ; Tobey, 1990 ; Dinda, 2004 ). PHH argues that with trade increasing income levels, there will be more demand for a cleaner environment, thereby pushing heavy polluting industries to countries with weaker regulations. PHH refers to the possibility of multinational firms, especially the ones engaged in highly polluting activities, relocating to countries with lower environmental protection rules and regulations. Environmental regulation exerts a moderating effect on the inverted- U shaped relationship with economic development and carbon emissions.

Since EKC is a long-run phenomenon ( Lindmark, 2002 ), the same using time series technique is considered more appropriate ( Akbostanci, 2009 ). As such, we use a time series methodology for the present study. In this study, we hypothesize the EKC between carbon emissions and GDP. The control variables used are, crude oil prices, trade openness, FDI inflow and select variables of economic freedom, especially as captured by size of government.

The flow of the paper is as follows: Section 2 provides the review of literature. This is followed by Section 3 , where the methodology (pertaining to unit root test with structural break and ARDL technique) and data sources are discussed. Empirical results are reported in Section 4 . Finally, in Section 5 , the paper concludes from a broad policy perspective.

2. Review of literature

In last few decades, there has been an increasing attention on how economic growth impacts environmental degradation. Though literature documents this relationship, in general, the causal links and direction of impact remains ambiguous. While reviewing the EKC literature we begin by examining research papers that use similar econometric methodology as adopted in the present research. Thereafter, papers that adopt an alternative methodology have been reviewed. Accordingly, the next two subsections follow:

2.1 Papers based on autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) econometric methodology

In this subsection, papers that support the EKC relationship are reviewed first, followed by papers that do not support the EKC hypothesis. Thereafter, specific papers that examine the EKC relationship for India are reviewed.

Balaguer and Cantavella (2016) perform a structural analysis on EKC for Spain for the period 1874–2011. In the research paper, real oil prices are used as an indicator of variations in fuel energy consumption. Evidence supports the EKC hypothesis in the long-run, as well as, in the short-run. Further, empirical results support the idea that changes in real oil prices are relevant in order to explain CO 2 emissions. They observe that with a 1% rise in oil prices, the CO 2 emissions reduce by 0.4% in Spain. They also check the possibility of flatter EKC curve in presence of technological effectiveness put forward by Dasgupta et al. (2002) and reject the same for the sample period for Spain. Boluk and Mert (2015) provide empirical evidence for the potential of renewable energy within an EKC framework for Turkey. Using ARDL approach, the relationship between carbon emissions, income and the electricity production from renewable energy sources has been investigated for the period 1961–2010. Based on their analysis, the authors conclude that there is an inverted U -shaped relationship between per capita emissions and per capita real income, supporting the EKC hypothesis in both the long and short-run. Jelbi and Youssef (2015) investigate the dynamic causal relationships between CO 2 emissions, economic growth, renewable and nonrenewable energy consumption, and trade in Tunisia during the period 1980–2009. The authors observe that EKC hypothesis is not supported in the long-run, whereas in the short-run the inverted U -shaped EKC hypothesis is supported. In case of trade, both per capita exports and imports have a positive impact on per capita CO 2 emissions.

The study by Ahmed and Long (2012) hypothesize EKC to investigate the relationship between CO 2 , energy consumption, economic growth, trade liberalization and population density in Pakistan. The study uses an ARDL model approach for a sample period from 1971 to 2009. Two main findings of the study are – first, while there is a long-run inverted U -shaped relationship between variables; there is no evidence to support the existence of EKC in the short-run. Second, trade openness improves the environment only in the short-run. Additionally, Pakistan's population density has been estimated to contribute to environmental degradation.

Tiwari et al. (2013) test the EKC hypothesis for Indian economy by incorporating coal consumption and trade openness. The study employs an ARDL model for the period 1966–2009, and reinforces the results using Johansen cointegration. Based on their analysis, the authors conclude that there is presence of EKC both in the long-run and short-run. Further, both coal consumption and trade openness also contribute to carbon emissions in the long-run. Jayanthakumaran et al. (2012) using ARDL methodology compares the relationship between growth, trade and energy use for India and China. Structural breaks are endogenously determined for the period 1971–2007 using the Lagrange multiplier unit root test proposed by Lee and Strazicich (2003 , 2004) . Further, existence of EKC relationship is established for both India and China. In India, the increase in energy consumption increases per capita emission by 0.97% in the long-run. However, the authors find that when manufacturing – GDP ratio is incorporated in the model, the long-run relationship between the variables no longer exists for India.

2.2 Papers based on econometric methodology, other than ARDL

For the period 1951–1986, Holtz-Eakin and Selden (1995) employ a panel data model for 130 countries. Their findings suggest evidence of diminishing marginal propensity to emit CO 2 as economies develop. Further, the forecast results indicate that global emissions of CO 2 will continue to grow at an annual rate of 1.8%. The study by Apergis (2016) assesses the “emission-income” relationship in EKC hypothesis using common correlated effects, fully modified ordinary least squares and the quantile estimation procedures. The analysis for 15 countries is done using data for the period 1960–2013. The results of the study indicate the presence of a nonlinear link between emissions per capita and personal income per capita across the majority of 15 countries. The paper concludes by recommending the use of more renewable sources of energy to reduce energy dependence and ensure energy security.

Using the panel data over the 1996–2012, Li et al. (2016) estimate the impact of economic development, energy consumption, trade openness and urbanization on the carbon dioxide, liquid waste and solid waste emissions for 28 Chinese provinces. The generalized method of moments estimate (GMM) estimator, as well as, ARDL estimates (long-run as well as short-run) support the EKC hypothesis for three major pollutants, namely, carbon dioxide, industrial waste water and industrial waste solid emissions in China. The results also indicate that trade openness and urbanization leads to environmental degradation in the long-run (estimates are insignificant in the short-run) in China, though the magnitude of severity varies across different pollutant emissions.

Robalion-Lopez et al. (2015) analyze various conditions for fulfillment of EKC hypothesis in the medium term for an oil-producing developing country, Venezuela. Using a model based on Kaya and Yokobori (1993) , they use data from 1980 to 2010. The value of the GDP, the energy consumption and the CO 2 emissions from 2011 to 2025 have also been estimated under four different scenarios which constrain GDP, productive sectoral structure, energy intensity and energy matrix. Based on the analysis, authors conclude that Venezuela does not fulfill the EKC hypothesis under any of the scenarios. The results show that Venezuela in 2010 is still in the first stage of the EKC. However, the authors state that the country could be on the way to achieve environmental stabilization in the medium term, if economic growth is accompanied with increasing use of renewable energy, appropriated changes in the energy matrix and in the productive sectoral structure.

Saidi and Hammami (2015) use a dynamic panel model to examine the impact of energy consumption and CO 2 emissions on economic growth of 58 countries. The results show that energy consumption and FDI have a positive and significant impact on economic growth in the panel of countries and that CO 2 emissions have a negative and statistically significant impact on economic growth. Zakaraya et al. (2015) analyze the interactions between total energy consumption, FDI, economic growth and CO 2 emissions in the BRICS countries for the period 1990–2012. The major contribution in their study is the consideration of environmental pollution and the amount of carbon emissions caused by foreign investment. Their study reinforces the view that environmental policies of developing countries are incomplete. Resultantly, foreign investors who are limited by policies in their own countries, are attracted to developing economies resulting in environmental degradation.

Tutulmaz (2015) investigates the EKC relationship between CO 2 emissions and GDP per capita for Turkey for the period 1968–2007. An initial phase of an inverted U -shape EKC relationship has been determined for Turkey from their estimations. Rather surprisingly, this result is conflicting with that of similar models for Turkey. Basis that, the authors title their paper as, “Environmental Kuznets Curve time series application for Turkey: Why controversial results exist for similar models?” Wang et al. (2015) provide specific application of EKC in explaining the effect of population growth on environment using overlapping generation model. Further, using data for 30 provinces from China between 2001 and 2010, effects of population growth on the population–income relationship is examined. The empirical analysis supports the presence of an inverted U -shaped relationship between polluting emissions and income. Simulation results in the paper illustrate that higher population growth makes the EKC steeper with higher peaks.

Pao and Tsai (2011) examine the dynamic relationship between CO 2 emissions, energy consumption and economic growth in Brazil for the period 1980–2007. The results support the EKC hypothesis as energy–income relationship appears to be an inverted U -shaped curve. Ghosh (2010) probes the relationship between CO 2 emission, energy supply and economic growth while controlling investment and employment in India for the period 1971–2006. The empirical results (using ARDL), establishes a long-run equilibrium among the variables. The results show the presence of bi-directional causality between CO 2 emissions and economic growth, justifying India's stand against mandatory emissions cut by developing nations. Further, results also establish presence of unidirectional causality from economic growth to energy supply and energy supply to carbon emissions.

Cole (2004) constructs a model to examine the evidence for the PHH and to assess the extent to which trade, through pollution haven effects and structural change has contributed to the EKC relationship. Using detailed data on North–South trade flows for pollution intensive products, the evidence for the PHH is assessed. EKC analysis for six air pollutants and four water pollutants has been undertaken; and pollution haven effects have not been found to exist for all pollutants. Also, when found, their economic significance has been limited. The author also interprets that the share of manufacturing output in GDP has a positive and statistically significant relationship with pollution. Hill and Magnani (2002) too examine the EKC relationship for a panel of 156 countries using generalized least squares model. However, they find no evidence of an inverted U -shaped EKC hypothesis as emissions monotonically increase with income per capita.

List and Gallet (1999a , b) use a state-level panel data of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions for the period 1929–1994 for several states of America to test the appropriateness of the “one size fits all” reduced-form regression used in EKC literature. The results provide evidence to support the presence of inverted- U path. Further, the results also indicate that state-level EKC's differ from one another and over time as well, which restricts cross-sections to undergo identical experiences over time. Another observed trend is that states whose EKCs peak to the left of the traditional confidence interval tends to have higher per capita emissions of the respective pollutant presumably because states with higher per capita emissions react more quickly to adopt policies designed to reduce pollution.

To summarize, while literature on EKC is rich, the specific EKC relationship is unique to each country. Resultantly, the motivation to take up the present EKC study for India. Also, since the environment impact of India's New Economic Policy (which promotes liberalization, privatization and globalization), remains largely unexplored, the present paper analyzes the same.

3. Research methodology and data sources

The objective of the study is to verify the EKC hypothesis for India. In order to do so we examine whether the EKC follows a linear, quadratic or polynomial form. Though literature predominantly discusses quadratic form, we also examine if a cubic form EKC relationship exists between environmental pollutants and economic growth. The time period of our study is from 1980 to 2012.

In this study, to test the validity of EKC hypothesis the following equation has been estimated [3] : (1) EP t = α t + β 1 Y t + β 2 Y t 3 + β 3 Y t 3 + β 4 Z t + e t

EP: It represents environmental pollutant as measured by carbon emissions (CO 2 ) . In our study, carbon emissions (CO 2 ) are from the consumption of petroleum. CO 2 is in million metric tons.

Y: It represents real GDP per capita. It is the gross value of goods and services produced within the domestic territory of India in a specific period, adjusted for inflation. Real GDP divided by mid-year population provides real GDP per capita. Data are in constant 2005 US$. As represented in Eqn (1) , its square and cubic form is also incorporated.

Z: It represents other variables such as trade openness, foreign direct investment, crude oil price, petroleum consumption and economic freedom as measured by Size of Government. Each of these is hereby described:

Trade openness is total value of import and exports as a percentage of GDP; FDI is net inflows as a percentage of GDP; Crude oil price is the simple average of three spot prices: Dated Brent, West Texas Intermediate and the Dubai Fateh (Base year −2005); Petroleum consumption is the total value of crude petroleum consumed. It is in thousand barrels per day and economic freedom as measured by “Size of Government”.

t : represents time

α ,   β : constant term and coefficient parameters

e : error term

β 1 , β 2   and   β 3 jointly determine the shape of EKC curve, i.e. a linear, inverted- U or N type EKC curve.

A linear relationship implies: β 1 > 0 and β 2 = β 3 = 0 .

An inverted U -shaped relationship implies: β 1 > 0 ,     β 2 < 0     and   β 3 = 0.

A U -shaped curve implies: β 1 < 0 ,     β 2 > 0   and   β 3 = 0.

A N -shaped figure or a cubic polynomial relationship implies: β 1 > 0 ,     β 2 < 0     and β 3 > 0.

The variables are briefly explained:

Data: The annual time series data for carbon emissions (CO 2 ), economic growth (GDP), industrial development (industrialization), FDI and trade openness has been obtained from World Development Indicators (WDI) online database. Crude oil price (international price index) for the period is collected from IMF. Data for total petroleum consumption is collected from the US Energy Information Agency. Data for economic freedom variables are from Fraser Institute's Economic Freedom Index's online database.

To examine the said relationships, unit root tests with structural break, and ARDL technique has been adopted.

Unit root tests: Numerous unit root tests are available in applied economics to test the stationarity properties of the variables. The unit root tests are augmented Dickey–Fuller by Dickey and Fuller (1979) , Phillips–Perron (P–P) by Phillips and Perron (1988) , Ng–Perron by Ng and Perron (2001) and Kwiatkowski–Phillips–Schmidt–Shin by Kwiatkowski et al. (1992) . All these do not have information about structural break points that occur in the series and hence provide biased and spurious results. Thus, in our paper, we perform a breakpoint unit root test similar to that of Perron (1989) . The null hypothesis is that the time series has a unit root with possibly nonzero drift, against the alternative that the process is “trend-stationary”. For carbon emissions, the break point has been estimated in the year 1993, for both the “intercept” and “intercept and trend” model

Autoregressive distributed lag model (ARDL): Cointegration is defined as a systematic comovement among two or more macroeconomic variables over the long-run. The presence of cointegration can be considered as a pretest for possibility of “spurious” correlation among variables. A standard ARDL equation with a dependent variable, y , and two other explanatory variables, x 1 and x 2 will be: (2) Δ y t = β 0 + θ 0 y t − 1 + θ 1 x 1 t − 1 + θ 2 x 2 t − 1 + ∑ β i Δ y t − i + ∑ γ j Δ x 1 t − j + ∑ δ k Δ x 2 t − k + e t where Δ is the first difference operator.

The ARDL method of cointegration analysis was first introduced by Hendry (1995) and extended by Pesaran and Shin (1999) and Pesaran et al. (2001) . An ARDL model gives a simple univariate framework for testing the existence of single level relationship between the dependent and independent variables, when it is not known with certainty whether the regressor are purely I(0) , purely I(1) or mutually cointegrated.

One of the key assumptions in the bounds testing methodology of Pesaran et al. (2001) is that the errors of Eqn (2) must be serially independent. To test for serial correlation of the residuals the Q -stat correlogram test is performed. Since we have a model with autoregressive structure we have to be sure that the model is “dynamically stable”. To test for the stability of the long-run relationship over time, the cumulative sum of recursive residuals (CUSUM) [5] test is utilized. This stability test is appropriate in time series data, especially when we do not know when structural change might happen.

θ 0 = θ 1 = θ 2 = 0 (No long-run relationship exists).

θ 0 ≠ θ 1 ≠ θ 2 ≠ 0 (A long-run relationship exists).

The computed F -statistic value is evaluated with the critical values tabulated in Pesaran et al. (2001) . Pesaran et al. (2001) supply bounds on the critical values of the asymptotic distribution of the F -statistic. They give lower and upper bound critical values for various situations (different number of variables, ( k +1)). In each case, the lower bound is based on the assumption that all the variables are I(0), and the upper bound is based on the assumption that all of the variables are I(1). If the computed F -statistic falls below the lower bound one concludes that the variables are I(0), so no cointegration is possible. If the F -statistic exceeds the upper bound, it is concluded that cointegration exists. Finally, if the computed F -statistic falls between the lower and upper bound values, then the results are inconclusive. Further, if there is evidence of long-run relationship (cointegration) among the variables, ARDL-EC model is used to estimate the long-run relationship and also to estimate the short-run dynamics.

4. Empirical results

4.1 unit root test.

To ensure that none of the variables are stationary at I (2) or beyond that order of integration, breakpoint unit root test has been conducted. All variables have been tested at level and at first differences. Table 1 reports the results of the breakpoint unit root tests with “intercept” and “intercept and trend”. It shows that all variables are stationary at I (0) or I (1).

Thereafter, the ARDL bound testing approach has been applied to examine the long-run relationship between variables. The advantage of bound testing is that it is flexible regarding the order of integration of the series [6] . Following the Schwarz criteria (SC), a lag length of 2 was chosen, for all models. The structural break of CO 2 emissions series estimated at year 1993 is taken across all model specifications.

The aim of the present study is to investigate the relationship between environmental pollutant (as measured by CO 2 emissions) and GDP for India. Following the methodology as developed by Jebli and Youssef (2015) and Jayanthakumaran et al. (2012) , among others, we develop two models based on EKC hypothesis: Model 1 and Model 2 [7] .

The general empirical form of Model 1 is: C O 2 = f ( GDP t ,   GDP t 2 ,   GDP t 3 ,   CrudePrice t ,   Petroleum   Consumption t ,   Trade   Openness t )

Model 1 can be rewritten as an ARDL model with intercept and trend as follows: (3) Δ CO 2 = α 0 + α 1 t + ∑ i = 1 m β 1 i Δ CO 2 t − 1 + ∑ i = 0 m β 2 i Δ GDP t − i + ∑ i = 0 m β 3 i Δ GDP t − 1 2 + ∑ i = 0 m β 4 i Δ GDP t − 1 3 + + ∑ i = 0 m β 5 i Δ Crude   Price t − 1 + ∑ i = 0 m β 6 i Δ Petroleum   Consumption t − 1 + ∑ i = 0 m β 7 i Trade   Openness t − 1 + β 9 CO 2 t − 1 + β 10 GDP t − 1 + β 11 GDP t − 1 2 + β 12 GDP t − 1 3 + β 13 Crude   Price t − 1 + β 14 Petroleum   Consumption t − 1 + β 15 Trade   Openness t − 1 + β 16 Break + β 17 Trend + v t Model 2 is an extension of Model 1 and includes two more explanatory variables, namely, size of government and FDI.

Table 2 reports the results of ARDL bounds testing approach to cointegration in the presence of a structural break in the series. The results show that our calculated F -statistics is greater than upper bound at 1 and 10% levels in models 1 and 2, respectively. This leads us to reject the null hypothesis of no cointegration. This indicates that there is a cointegrating relationship among the variables across models in the long-run. Q -stat for Model 1 and Model 2 are provided in Tables A1 and A2 .

As for the expected sign of explanatory variables other than β 2 , β 3 and β 4 (estimated coefficients of GDP PC , GDP PC 2 and GDP PC 3 , respectively), one expects the coefficient of crude oil price to be negative since an increase in price of oil is expected to reduce oil consumption. Further, the coefficient for petroleum consumption is expected to be positive, as higher consumption is expected to promote pollution. The coefficients of trade openness and FDI may be positive or negative depending upon the level of economic development. In general, if developing economies have less stringent environment regulations, greater trade openness and more FDI are expected to increase pollution. Finally, coefficient of economic freedom index as measured by “Lower Size of Government” is expected to be positive as economies with greater private sector participation may overproduce goods and services for which social costs outweigh private costs. This certainly is the case with pollution emitting industries where negative externalities are immense.

The results of cointegration tests are reported in Table 3 . We proceed with a cubic form for EKC hypothesis for both the models.

In models 1 and 2 [8] , the coefficient of GDP PC remains positive and significant across specifications. For Model 1, the coefficient of GDP PC square and GDP PC cube equals zero implying that there is a monotonic increase in carbon emissions with an increase in per capita GDP. This largely implies that EKC's linear model hypothesis (and not inverted U -shaped hypothesis) is valid for India both in the long-run and short-run. However, in Model 2, in the short-run, presence of an inverted U -shaped EKC has been estimated. Further, as expected, increase in crude oil price has a negative and significant effect on carbon emissions, as the estimated coefficient is negative (and significant) across model specifications. Also, where significant, the coefficient of petroleum consumption is positive. This implies that higher consumption of energy is associated with increase in carbon emissions. This result is also as per expectation. In Model 1, the coefficient of trade openness is positive and significant at 5% level in the long-run. This implies that increase in trade openness is expected to be linked with higher carbon emissions in the long-run. However, in Model 2, the coefficient of trade openness is negative and significant at 1% level, both in the long-run and short-run.

Further, in Model 2, the coefficient of FDI is positive and significant at 1% level in the long-run but negative and significant in the short-run. This implies that an increase in FDI is expected to be linked directly with carbon emissions in the long-run, but not in the short-run. In Model 2, the coefficient of economic freedom as measured by lower “size of government” is positive and significant. This means that periods during which size of government is lower are associated with higher carbon emissions. In Model 2, the coefficient of trade openness and size of government in the short-term corroborates with the long-term relationship established.

In the short-run as expected, the coefficient of the error correction terms is negative and significant across model specification (at 1% level). This corroborates with our established long-run relationship between carbon emissions, GDP PC and other variables. The changes in carbon emissions are expected to be corrected within a year. Further, it is expected that full convergence will take place within a year and reach the stable path of equilibrium. Thus, we may conclude that the adjustment process is fast for the Indian economy.

5. Conclusion and policy recommendations

Based on the hypothesis of EKC, the study investigates the relationship between environmental pollutants (as measured by CO 2 emissions) and per capita GDP for India, over the period 1980–2012. Making use of the ARDL bounds testing approach for cointegration with structural breaks, the presence of EKC has been examined (in two model specifications: both long-run and short-run) while controlling for factors such as oil prices, petroleum consumption and trade openness in Model 1, as also, FDI and size of government in Model 2.

A monotonic relationship is observed between per capita carbon emissions and per capita GDP in Model 1, both in the long-run and short-run. Evidence to support existence of an inverted “ U ” shaped EKC, in India is validated only in the short-run for Model specification 2. This implies that carbon emissions begin to decline, once the threshold level of GDP per capita is achieved.

Rise in fuel price leads to reduction in carbon emissions and increase in petroleum consumption promotes emissions.

Impact of trade openness is ambiguous across model specifications. While in Model 1, the long-run impact of trade openness induces carbon emissions,in model 2, increase in trade is associated with lower levels of carbon emissions. The short-run impact of trade openness in Model 2 is negative (and significant) implying that as the Indian economy opened to trade, in the short-run, the CO 2 emissions reduced.This can be on account of technological and composition effects that are expected with economic growth and FDI inflow in an open economy.

In Model 2, an increase in net FDI inflow has an adverse effect on environment in the long-run, though the short-run impacts on environment are favorable. Some of these findings are in line with those of Pao and Tsai (2011) , Jian and Rencheng (2007) and Havens (1999), as they too have estimated that higher FDI increases environmental degradation. This indicates that India (like other developing countries) attracts FDI in polluting industries, maybe because of lower environmental standards. This incentivizes heavy polluters to move to countries with lower environment regulations. The migration or displacement of “dirty” industries from the developed regions to the developing regions is referred to as “Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH)”. The PHH theory of polluting multinational companies coming to countries with lower environmental standards is supported by our results. In addition, the environmental quality could decline through the scale effect as increasing FDI/trade volume raises the size of economy, which per se increases pollution as well.

Our findings indicate that higher economic freedom as measured by lower size of government has a positive impact on carbon emissions. Adverse impact of lower size of government on environment is in sync with the theory of negative externalities as proposed by Stiglitz. This relationship validates the theory that greater participation by the private sector in economic activities of a nation, promotes negative externalities such as those caused by smoke or air pollution. To address concerns of market failure, governments must introduce effective regulations to address climate concerns.

Adopting interventionist policies to control environmental degradation : Several studies ( Tiwari et al. , 2013 ; Jayanthakumaran et al. , 2012 ; Agras and Chapman, 1999 ; Sajeev, 2018 ) have shown that one may expect a delinking between environmental degradation and economic growth beyond the threshold limit, as and when it is attained. In such cases, promotion of economic growth seems to be a sufficient condition for safeguarding environment. However, our finding suggests that growth and carbon emissions go together. Since economic growth cannot be compromised, especially for developing economies such as India, governments need to actively introduce interventionist policies to control environmental degradation.

Rationalizing and phasing of government fossil fuel subsidies: According to the IEA statistics, oil subsidies in India were 29.7bnUS$ in 2014 (Real, 2013). For the same period, China's oil subsidies stood at 11.8bn US$. Such high subsidies need to be reduced and rationalized. IEA reports that removing fossil fuel subsidy can limit carbon emissions by 2.6Gt by 2035, which is nearly half of the reduction needed to limit global warming to 2°C. While the main aim for subsidy is to make it more affordable, especially for the poor and vulnerable, often the impacts are not optimal due to poor targeting and/or associated systemic leakages. Since subsidies reduce the incentive to curb wasteful energy consumption, there is an associated environment cost of subsidy as well. Straining of government budgets in such cases also reduces government's flexibility to invest in greener technologies. To mitigate the adverse social consequences of removal of fossil fuel subsidies, cross-subsidization can be introduced for promoting use of renewable energy sources, as also more energy efficient technologies.

Imposition of carbon tax : The explicit costs of carbon emissions, in general, are paid by the public in the form of rising health care costs and higher food prices due to crop failures. Stern Review ( 2006 ) suggests that climate change is a classic example of market failure. By introducing carbon tax, governments can reduce the gap between private and social cost of fossil fuel consumption. This shall promote more efficient usage and utilization of the fuel as carbon tax increases the price that consumers pay for energy. IMF proposes a global carbon tax at $75 per tonne of carbon to help limit global warming to 2°C above preindustrial levels. The IMF estimates that a carbon tax of $75 per tonne of carbon consumed in India will increase the price of coal by 230%, natural gas by 25%, electricity by 83% and petrol by 13%. Fortunately, the current fall in oil prices have presented an opportunity to emerging economies to introduce a flexible regime of carbon taxing that can be linked with crude oil prices. Removal of fossil fuel subsidy and carbon taxation should be integrated with clean energy and energy savings scheme derived from technology transfers that are aimed under the Kyoto Protocol. Usage of renewable energy sources is to be promoted as well for energy secure future.

To conclude, reinforced by India's stance on promoting liberalization, privatization and globalization, effective environment friendly regulatory mechanisms must be in place.

Total carbon emissions in BRICS (1992 and 2012)

India's real GDP and carbon emissions (1980–2013)

Environmental Kuznets curve

Breakpoint unit root test

Note(s) : *Probabilities may not be valid for this equation specification

International Energy Agency Report, 2015, Outlook-India report. International Energy Agency.

Fastest growing economy in 2018 with a growth rate of 7.3%, ADB.

De Bryun and Heintz (2002)

Economic freedom of the world measures the degree to which the policies and institutions of the countries are supportive to economic freedom.

CUSUM test and the cumulative sum of squares of recursive residuals (CUSUMSQ) test was proposed by Brown et al. (1975) . The null hypothesis is that the coefficient vector is the same in every period and the alternative hypothesis is that they are different. The CUMSUM and CUSUMSQ statistics are plotted against their 5% critical bound. If the plot of these statistics remains within the critical bound, one fails to reject the null hypothesis of no structural change.

The variables can be integrated of the order I(0) or I(1) or I(0)/I(1).

Only the Models that are stable and without autocorrelation are reported in the study.

Model 1, controls for trade as a factor influencing EKC, whereas in Model 2, FDI and size of government along with trade and other variables are considered. Thereby, contributing to the differences in results of EKC between Models 1 and 2. In Model 2, both in the long- and short-run an increase in volume of trade is associated with lower levels of carbon emissions. This can be attributed to technological and composition effects on account of economic growth and FDI.

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5 Biggest Environmental Issues in India in 2024

In its latest climate assessment, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) made it very clear that the climate crisis is accelerating at a pace like never before and warned that it is “ now or never ” to limit global warming to 1.5C. From deforestation and droughts to air pollution and plastic waste , there are several factors exacerbating global warming, with consequences felt everywhere in the world. However, some nations suffer more than others. Despite making little to no contribution to climate change, countries in the Global South historically bear the most brunt as they often lack financial resources to tackle the emergency and mitigate the impacts of extreme weather events. Here are some of the biggest environmental issues in India right now and how the country is dealing with them.

1. Air Pollution

Undoubtedly one of the most pressing environmental issues in India is air pollution. According to the 2021 World Air Quality Report, India is home to 63 of the 100 most polluted cities, with New Delhi named the capital with the worst air quality in the world. The study also found that PM2.5 concentrations – tiny particles in the air that are 2.5 micrometres or smaller in length – in 48% of the country’s cities are more than 10 times higher than the 2021 WHO air quality guideline level. 

Vehicular emissions, industrial waste, smoke from cooking, the construction sector, crop burning, and power generation are among the biggest sources of air pollution in India. The country’s dependence on coal, oil, and gas due to rampant electrification makes it the world’s third-largest polluter , contributing over 2.65 billion metric tonnes of carbon to the atmosphere every year.  

The months-long lockdown imposed by the government in March 2020 to curb the spread of Covid-19 led to a halt in human activities. This unsurprisingly, significantly improved air quality across the country. When comparing the Air Quality Index (AQI) data for 2019 and 2020, the daily average AQI in March-April 2019 was 656, the number drastically dropped by more than half to 306 in the same months of 2020.  

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Unfortunately, things did not last long. In 2021, India was among the world’s most polluted countries, second only to Bangladesh. The annual average PM2.5 levels in India was about 58.1 µg/m³ in 2021, “ending a three-year trend of improving air quality” and a clear sign that the country has returned to pre-pandemic levels. Scientists have linked persistent exposure to PM2.5 to many long-term health issues including heart and lung disease, as well as 7 million premature deaths each year. In November 2021, air pollution reached such severe levels that they were forced to shut down several large power plants around Delhi. 

In recent years, the State Government of the Indian capital has taken some stringent measures to keep a check on air pollution. One of which is the Odd-Even Regulation – a traffic rationing measure under which only private vehicles with registration numbers ending with an odd digit will be allowed on roads on odd dates and those with an even digit on even dates. Starting from January 2023, there will also be a ban on the use of coal as fuel in industrial and domestic units in the National Capital Region (NRC). However, the ban will not apply to thermal power plants, incidentally the largest consumers of coal. Regardless of the measures taken to curb air pollution, as the World Air Quality Report clearly shows – the AQI in India continues to be on a dangerous trajectory.

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2. Water Pollution

Among the most pressing environmental issues in India is also water pollution. The Asian country has experienced unprecedented urban expansion and economic growth in recent years. This, however, comes with huge environmental costs. Besides its air, the country’s waterways have become extremely polluted, with around 70% of surface water estimated to be unfit for consumption. Illegal dumping of raw sewage, silt, and garbage into rivers and lakes severely contaminated India’s waters. The near-total absence of pipe planning and an inadequate waste management system are only exacerbating the situation. Every day, a staggering 40 million litres of wastewater enter rivers and other water bodies. Of these, only a tiny fraction is adequately treated due to a lack of adequate infrastructure.

In middle-income countries like India, water pollution can account for the loss of up to half of GDP growth, a World Bank report suggests. Water pollution costs the Indian government between US$6.7 and $7.7 billion a year and is associated with a 9% drop in agricultural revenues as well as a 16% decrease in downstream agricultural yields.

Besides affecting humans, with nearly 40 million Indians suffering from waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera, and hepatitis and nearly 400,000 fatalities each year, water pollution also damages crops, as infectious bacteria and diseases in the water used for irrigation prevent them from growing. Inevitably, freshwater biodiversity is also severely damaged. The country’s rivers and lakes often become open sewers for residential and industrial waste. Especially the latter – which comprises a wide range of toxic substances like pesticides and herbicides, oil products, and heavy metals – can kill aquatic organisms by altering their environment and making it extremely difficult for them to survive.

Fortunately, the country has started addressing the issue by taking steps to improve its water source quality, often with local startups’ help. One strategy involves the construction of water treatment plants that rely on techniques such as flocculation, skimming, and filtration to remove the most toxic chemicals from the water. The upgrade process at one of the country’s largest plants located in Panjrapur, Maharashtra, will enable it to produce more than 19 million cubic metres of water a day , enough to provide access to clean water to approximately 96 million people. 

The government is also looking at ways to promote water conservation and industrial water reuse by opening several treatment plants across the country. In Chennai, a city in Eastern India, water reclamation rose from 36,000 to 80,000 cubic metres between 2016 and 2019. 

Finally, in 2019, Gujarat – a state of more than 70 million citizens – launched its Reuse of Treated Waste Water Policy , which aims to drastically decrease consumption from the Narmada River. The project foresees the installation of 161 sewage treatment plants all across the state that will supply the industrial and construction sectors with treated water.

3. Food and Water Shortages

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), India is the country expected to pay the highest price for the impacts of the climate crisis. Aside from extreme weather events such as flash floods and widespread wildfires, the country often experiences long heatwaves and droughts that dry up its water sources and compromise crops. 

Since March 2022 – which was the hottest and driest month recorded in 120 years – the North West regions have been dealing with a prolonged wave of scorching and record-breaking heat . For several consecutive days, residents were hit by temperatures surpassing 40 degrees Celsius, while in some areas, surface land temperatures reached up to 60C. There is no doubt among experts that this unprecedented heatwave is a direct manifestation of climate change .

The heatwave has also contributed to an economic slowdown due to a loss of productivity, as thousands of Indians are unable to work in the extreme heat. The agriculture sector – which employs over 60% of the population – is often hit hard by these erratic droughts, impacting food stability and sustenance. Currently, farmers are struggling to rescue what remains of the country’s wheat crops, piling on existing fears of a global shortage sparked by the war in Ukraine.

Already among the world’s most water-stressed countries , the heatwave is causing further water shortages across the nations. Even though water tankers are keeping communities hydrated, the supply is not enough to cover the needs of all residents. But heat is not the only factor contributing to water scarcity. In an interview with the Times of India , lead researcher at Pune-based Watershed Organisation Trust Eshwer Kale described the national water policy as very ‘irrigation-centric’. Indeed, over 85% of India’s freshwater is used in agriculture. This has led to a crisis in several states, including Punjab, Haryana, and western Uttar Pradesh. The indiscriminate use of water for irrigation, coupled with the absence of conservation efforts and the huge policy gap in managing water resources has left over 10% of the country’s water bodies in rural areas redundant. A 2019 report predicts that 21 major cities – including New Delhi and India’s IT hub of Bengaluru – will run out of groundwater by 2030, affecting nearly 40% of the population. 

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4. Waste Management

Among the most pressing environmental issues in India is also waste. As the second-largest population in the world of nearly 1.4 billion people, it comes as no surprise that 277 million tonnes of municipal solid waste (MSW) are produced there every year. Experts estimate that by 2030, MSW is likely to reach 387.8 million tonnes and will more than double the current value by 2050. India’s rapid urbanisation makes waste management extremely challenging. Currently, about 5% of the total collected waste is recycled, 18% is composted, and the remaining is dumped at landfill sites .

The plastic crisis in India is one of the worst on the planet. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), India currently produces more than 25,000 tonnes of plastic waste every day on average, which accounts for almost 6% of the total solid waste generated in the country. India stands second among the top 20 countries having a high proportion of riverine plastic emissions nationally as well as globally. Indus, Brahmaputra, and Ganges rivers are known as the ‘highways of plastic flows’ as they carry and drain most of the plastic debris in the country. Together with the 10 other topmost polluted rivers, they leak nearly 90% of plastics into the sea globally. 

To tackle this issue, in 2020 the government announced that they would ban the manufacture, sale, distribution, and use of single-use plastics from July 1 2022 onwards . Furthermore, around 100 Indian cities are set to be developed as smart cities . Despite being still in its early phase, the project sees civic bodies completely redrawing the long-term vision in solid waste management, with smart technologies but also awareness campaigns to encourage community participation in building the foundation of new collection and disposal systems. 

You Might Also Like: Smart Cities in India

5. Biodiversity Loss

Last but not least on the list of environmental issues in India is biodiversity loss. The country has four major biodiversity hotspots , regions with significant levels of animal and plant species that are threatened by human habitation: the Himalayas, the Western Ghats, the Sundaland (including the Nicobar Islands), and the Indo-Burma region. India has already lost almost 90% of the area under the four hotspots, according to a 2021 report issued by the Centre for Science and Environment (CSE), with the latter region being by far the worst affected.

Moreover, 1,212 animal species in India are currently monitored by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List, with over 12% being classified as ‘endangered’ . Within these hotspots, 25 species have become extinct in recent years.

Due to water contamination, 16% of India’s freshwater fish, molluscs, dragonflies, damselflies, and aquatic plants are threatened with extinction and, according to the WWF and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL) , freshwater biodiversity in the country has experienced an 84% decline. 

Yet, there is more to it. Forest loss is another major driver of biodiversity decline in the country. Since the start of this century, India has lost 19% of its total tree cover . While 2.8% of forests were cut down from deforestation, much of the loss have been a consequence of wildfires, which affected more than 18,000 square kilometres of forest per year – more than twice the annual average of deforestation. 

Forest restoration may be key to India’s ambitious climate goals, but some argue that the country is not doing enough to stop the destruction of this incredibly crucial resource. Indeed, despite committing to create an additional carbon sink of 2.5-3 billion tonnes of CO2 equivalent through additional forest and tree cover by 2030, Narendra Modi’s government faced backlash after refusing to sign the COP26 pledge to stop deforestation and agreeing to cut methane gas emissions. The decision was justified by citing concerns over the potential impact that the deal would have on local trade, the country’s extensive farm sector, and the role of livestock in the rural economy. However, given these activities’ dramatic consequences on biodiversity, committing to end and reverse deforestation should be a priority for India.

If you liked reading about some of the biggest environmental issues in India, you might also like: 14 Biggest Environmental Problems of 2024

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There’s an Explosion of Plastic Waste. Big Companies Say ‘We’ve Got This.’

Big brands like Procter & Gamble and Nestlé say a new generation of plants will help them meet environmental goals, but the technology is struggling to deliver.

Recycled polypropylene pellets at a PureCycle Technologies plant in Ironton, Ohio. Credit... Maddie McGarvey for The New York Times

Supported by

By Hiroko Tabuchi

• Published April 5, 2024 Updated April 8, 2024

By 2025, Nestle promises not to use any plastic in its products that isn’t recyclable. By that same year, L’Oreal says all of its packaging will be “refillable, reusable, recyclable or compostable.”

And by 2030, Procter & Gamble pledges that it will halve its use of virgin plastic resin made from petroleum.

To get there, these companies and others are promoting a new generation of recycling plants, called “advanced” or “chemical” recycling, that promise to recycle many more products than can be recycled today.

So far, advanced recycling is struggling to deliver on its promise. Nevertheless, the new technology is being hailed by the plastics industry as a solution to an exploding global waste problem.

The traditional approach to recycling is to simply grind up and melt plastic waste. The new, advanced-recycling operators say they can break down the plastic much further, into more basic molecular building blocks, and transform it into new plastic.

PureCycle Technologies, a company that features prominently in Nestlé, L’Oréal, and Procter & Gamble’s plastics commitments, runs one such facility, a $500 million plant in Ironton, Ohio. The plant was originally to start operating in 2020 , with the capacity to process as much as 182 tons of discarded polypropylene, a hard-to-recycle plastic used widely in single-use cups, yogurt tubs, coffee pods and clothing fibers, every day.

But PureCycle’s recent months have instead been filled with setbacks: technical issues at the plant, shareholder lawsuits, questions over the technology and a startling report from contrarian investors who make money when a stock price falls. They said that they had flown a drone over the facility that showed that the plant was far from being able to make much new plastic.

PureCycle, based in Orlando, Fla., said it remained on track. “We’re ramping up production,” its chief executive, Dustin Olson, said during a recent tour of the plant, a constellation of pipes, storage tanks and cooling towers in Ironton, near the Ohio River. “We believe in this technology. We’ve seen it work,” he said. “We’re making leaps and bounds.”

Nestlé, Procter & Gamble and L’Oréal have also expressed confidence in PureCycle. L’Oréal said PureCycle was one of many partners developing a range of recycling technologies. P.&G. said it hoped to use the recycled plastic for “numerous packaging applications as they scale up production.” Nestlé didn’t respond to requests for comment, but has said it is collaborating with PureCycle on “groundbreaking recycling technologies.”

PureCycle’s woes are emblematic of broad trouble faced by a new generation of recycling plants that have struggled to keep up with the growing tide of global plastic production, which scientists say could almost quadruple by midcentury .

A chemical-recycling facility in Tigard, Ore., a joint venture between Agilyx and Americas Styrenics, is in the process of shutting down after millions of dollars in losses. A plant in Ashley, Ind., that had aimed to recycle 100,000 tons of plastic a year by 2021 had processed only 2,000 tons in total as of late 2023, after fires, oil spills and worker safety complaints.

At the same time, many of the new generation of recycling facilities are turning plastic into fuel, something the Environmental Protection Agency doesn’t consider to be recycling, though industry groups say some of that fuel can be turned into new plastic .

Overall, the advanced recycling plants are struggling to make a dent in the roughly 36 million tons of plastic Americans discard each year, which is more than any other country. Even if the 10 remaining chemical-recycling plants in America were to operate at full capacity, they would together process some 456,000 tons of plastic waste, according to a recent tally by Beyond Plastics , a nonprofit group that advocates stricter controls on plastics production. That’s perhaps enough to raise the plastic recycling rate — which has languished below 10 percent for decades — by a single percentage point.

For households, that has meant that much of the plastic they put out for recycling doesn’t get recycled at all, but ends up in landfills. Figuring out which plastics are recyclable and which aren’t has turned into, essentially, a guessing game . That confusion has led to a stream of non-recyclable trash contaminating the recycling process, gumming up the system.

“The industry is trying to say they have a solution,” said Terrence J. Collins, a professor of chemistry and sustainability science at Carnegie Mellon University. “It’s a non-solution.”

‘Molecular washing machine’

It was a long-awaited day last June at PureCycle’s Ironton facility: The company had just produced its first batch of what it describes as “ultra-pure” recycled polypropylene pellets.

That milestone came several years late and with more than $350 million in cost overruns. Still, the company appeared to have finally made it. “Nobody else can do this,” Jeff Kramer, the plant manager, told a local news crew .

PureCycle had done it by licensing a game-changing method — developed by Procter & Gamble researchers in the mid-2010s, but unproven at scale — that uses solvent to dissolve and purify the plastic to make it new again. “It’s like a molecular washing machine,” Mr. Olson said.

There’s a reason Procter & Gamble, Nestlé and L’Oréal, some of the world’s biggest users of plastic, are excited about the technology. Many of their products are made from polypropylene, a plastic that they transform into a plethora of products using dyes and fillers. P.&G. has said it uses more polypropylene than any other plastic, more than a half-million tons a year.

But those additives make recycling polypropylene more difficult.

The E.P.A. estimates that 2.7 percent of polypropylene packaging is reprocessed. But PureCycle was promising to take any polypropylene — disposable beer cups, car bumpers, even campaign signs — and remove the colors, odors, and contaminants to transform it into new plastic.

Soon after the June milestone, trouble hit.

On Sept. 13, PureCycle disclosed that its plant had suffered a power failure the previous month that had halted operations and caused a vital seal to fail. That meant the company would be unable to meet key milestones, it told lenders.

Then in November, Bleecker Street Research — a New York-based short-seller, an investment strategy that involves betting that a company’s stock price will fall — published a report asserting that the white pellets that had rolled off PureCycle’s line in June weren’t recycled from plastic waste. The short-sellers instead claimed that the company had simply run virgin polypropylene through the system as part of a demonstration run.

Mr. Olson said PureCycle hadn’t used consumer waste in the June 2023 run, but it hadn’t used virgin plastic, either. Instead it had used scrap known as “post industrial,” which is what’s left over from the manufacturing process and would otherwise go to a landfill, he said.

Bleecker Street also said it had flown heat-sensing drones over the facility and said it found few signs of commercial-scale activity. The firm also raised questions about the solvent PureCycle was using to break down the plastic, calling it “a nightmare concoction” that was difficult to manage.

PureCycle is now being sued by other investors who accuse the company of making false statements and misleading investors about its setbacks.

Mr. Olson declined to describe the solvent. Regulatory filings reviewed by The New York Times indicate that it is butane, a highly flammable gas, stored under pressure. The company’s filing described the risks of explosion, citing a “worst case scenario” that could cause second-degree burns a half-mile away, and said that to mitigate the risk the plant was equipped with sprinklers, gas detectors and alarms.

Chasing the ‘circular economy’

It isn’t unusual, of course, for any new technology or facility to experience hiccups. The plastics industry says these projects, once they get going, will bring the world closer to a “circular” economy, where things are reused again and again.

Plastics-industry lobbying groups are promoting chemical recycling. At a hearing in New York late last year, industry lobbyists pointed to the promise of advanced recycling in opposing a packaging-reduction bill that would eventually mandate a 50 percent reduction in plastic packaging. And at negotiations for a global plastics treaty , lobby groups are urging nations to consider expanding chemical recycling instead of taking steps like restricting plastic production or banning plastic bags.

A spokeswoman for the American Chemistry Council, which represents plastics makers as well as oil and gas companies that produce the building blocks of plastic, said that chemical recycling potentially “complements mechanical recycling, taking the harder-to-recycle plastics that mechanical often cannot.”

Environmental groups say the companies are using a timeworn strategy of promoting recycling as a way to justify selling more plastic, even though the new recycling technology isn’t ready for prime time. Meanwhile, they say, plastic waste chokes rivers and streams, piles up in landfills or is exported .

“These large consumer brand companies, they’re out over their skis,” said Judith Enck, the president of Beyond Plastics and a former regional E.P.A. administrator. “Look behind the curtain, and these facilities aren’t operating at scale, and they aren’t environmentally sustainable,” she said.

The better solution, she said, would be, “We need to make less plastic.”

Touring the plant

Mr. Olson recently strolled through a cavernous warehouse at PureCycle’s Ironton site, built at a former Dow Chemical plant. Since January, he said, PureCycle has been processing mainly consumer plastic waste and has produced about 1.3 million pounds of recycled polypropylene, or about 1 percent of its annual production target.

“This is a bag that would hold dog food,” he said, pointing to a bale of woven plastic bags. “And these are fruit carts that you’d see in street markets. We can recycle all of that, which is pretty cool.”

The plant was dealing with a faulty valve discovered the day before, so no pellets were rolling off the line. Mr. Olson pulled out a cellphone to show a photo of a valve with a dark line ringing its interior. “It’s not supposed to look like that,” he said.

The company later sent video of Mr. Olson next to white pellets once again streaming out of its production line.

PureCycle says every kilogram of polypropylene it recycles emits about 1.54 kilograms of planet-warming carbon dioxide. That’s on par with a commonly used industry measure of emissions for virgin polypropylene. PureCycle said that it was improving on that measure.

Nestlé, L’Oréal and Procter & Gamble continue to say they’re optimistic about the technology. In November, Nestlé said it had invested in a British company that would more easily separate out polypropylene from other plastic waste.

It was “just one of the many steps we are taking on our journey to ensure our packaging doesn’t end up as waste,” the company said.

Hiroko Tabuchi covers the intersection of business and climate for The Times. She has been a journalist for more than 20 years in Tokyo and New York. More about Hiroko Tabuchi

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