The phenomena of global warming is a result of climate change, which draws intellectuals’ attention away from polluting energy sources and toward clean ones. Policymakers are paying close attention to nuclear energy among sustainable energy options. However, there is still uncertainty regarding nuclear energy’s contribution to lowering pollution emissions, which calls for more research. Thus, by examining the relationship between nuclear energy, economic growth, and CO2 emissions in a developing country setting like Pakistan from 1973 to 2017, the current study advances our understanding. According to the auto-regressive distributive lag model, nuclear energy contributes to environmental damage by releasing carbon emissions into the atmosphere. Additionally, vector error correction Granger causality shows that nuclear energy and carbon emissions are causally related in both directions. These intriguing results offer fresh perspectives, and policy recommendations are made in light of them.
Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, the seventh declared nuclear nation and is faced with a severe energy crisis [14]. The country is highly vulnerable to the negative effects of climate change but has made little contribution to the problem of global warming. Pakistan is heavily dependent on imported fossil fuels for energy availability, and a persistent gap between energy supply and demand has existed for several decades, resulting in significant economic and social losses. For example, the country’s economy suffered US$ 18 billion (6.5% of GDP) due to the power shortage in the fiscal year 2015. Furthermore, it is anticipated that by 2025, the current power demand will have doubled. As a result, Pakistan is in a very bad situation where issues with energy scarcity and environmental deterioration overlap and require immediate policy-level solutions. Investigating the role of nuclear energy in economic development and environmental mitigation is crucial, taking into account both the present and the future. This is especially true for emerging nations with high aspirations for nuclear energy expansion. Many scholars have suggested that a country-specific investigation is necessary to assess nuclear energy’s role in pollution mitigation in Pakistan because different countries have different economic development patterns, resource availability constraints, environmental policies, geopolitical situations, and legal restrictions on nuclear energy usage.
The current study adds the following to the body of existing literature: First, by examining the impact of nuclear energy in environmental pollution for the first time in Pakistan, the current study closes an academic gap in the body of literature already available on the energy-emission nexus. In addition to offering country-specific policy recommendations, this study may also serve as a reference for other emerging nations looking to plan their energy resources. Second, in contrast to earlier research, we did not incorporate alternative energy sources into our empirical model to accurately represent the impact of nuclear energy on CO2 emissions. Third, the study modified the most reliable estimating techniques, including the autoregressive distributive lag (ARDL) model and the Bayer and Haneck cointegration test, for the longest dataset that was available, which covered the years 1973 to 2017.
Energy is necessary to sustain daily living and to propel both economic and human advancement. More than 26,000 TW-hours of electricity were generated worldwide in 2019
using a variety of energy sources, including nuclear power, fossil fuels, and renewable energy sources, including wind, solar, and hydro. The primary cause of greenhouse gas emissions and global warming worldwide is energy production and consumption. Climate change, another name for global warming, is one of the most challenging problems the world is now dealing with. Global warming is defined by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) as the rise in the average temperature of the land surface, air, and sea surface during 30 years. An estimated 0.87 °C more warming occurred between 2006 and 2015 compared to pre-industrial levels (Masson-Delmotte et al., 2018). At the moment, surface temperatures are increasing by roughly 0.2 °C every ten years. According to the Global Temperature Report (2020), if current trends continue, global warming is expected to surpass pre-industrial levels by 1.5 °C by 2037
According to the IPCC’s most recent research, the average global temperature will rise by 1.5 °C above preindustrial levels by 2030, which is earlier than anticipated given that it has already risen by 1.1 °C.In many regions of the world, the global temperature has already surpassed the norm, according to NASA research (Why Global Temperatures Rise, 2019). Rising sea levels, more intense weather, more frequent heat waves and wildfires, greater drought, and melting ice sheets that contain enough water to raise sea levels by a dozen meters are just a few of the effects of global warming that are being felt everywhere. Before the middle of this century, the Arctic Ocean is predicted to be virtually ice-free in the summer. Since 2002, Antarctica’s annual ice loss has been approximately 134 billion metric tons (Greenhouse Impact and Report). The ocean currents that keep the continents’ temperatures consistent are becoming erratic. All of these incidents necessitate immediate action to rescue the planet.
The impact of greenhouse gases (GHGs) is now widely recognized as the cause of global warming. In a normal scenario, solar radiation not absorbed or deflected by the atmosphere would reach Earth and then return to space. The Earth’s atmosphere contains greenhouse gases, which trap heat radiation and stop it from escaping. Instead, the energy is reradiated in all directions. In the same way that a greenhouse in a botanical garden retains solar energy and keeps the interior warm so plants may flourish throughout the winter, this makes the earth warmer.
A gradual switch to clean energy is made possible by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), an action plan to significantly cut greenhouse gas emissions. This agreement, which involved 196 countries, was reached in Paris in 2015. By promoting the use of low-carbon energy sources to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the agreement requires member countries to take concrete measures to limit the increase in global average temperatures to well below 2 °C, preferably 1.5 °C, relative to pre-industrial levels (1850-1900 period). The International Renewable Energy Agency estimates that at least 80% of electricity must come from low-carbon sources in order to meet these climate targets by 2050.
Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and the longest available data span from 1973 to 2017, the study sought to determine how nuclear energy contributed to Pakistan’s carbon emissions. We can conclude from the results that nuclear energy is currently causing contamination in the environment. Aside from that, nuclear energy contributes to the inverted U-shaped link between CO2 emissions and economic growth.
Furthermore, there is unidirectional causality between economic growth and nuclear energy, as well as between CO2 emissions and economic growth.
As soon as possible, nuclear generation infrastructure should be improved. Better performance is needed to establish nuclear waste management facilities and reach the threshold level of nuclear energy share, which calls for an independent regulatory authority. To guarantee environmental quality, operational performance, efficiency, and monitoring inspections are required. To make nuclear energy a clean energy source in Pakistan, more nuclear energy research and development is advised. Before launching a nuclear power program, this report offers specific advice for nations with limited resources, such as Pakistan. because it necessitates significant, sustained government investment, competent human resources, and institutional infrastructure. Furthermore, because nuclear energy has major, irreversible effects on both mankind and the environment, it requires extra safety, security, and protection measures.