ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1684368
Reliance on Natural Resources, Renewable Energy Adoption, and Their Impact on Carbon Emissions in Selected SCO Member Countries
Provisionally accepted
- 1China University of Geosciences Wuhan, Wuhan, China
- 2King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
- 3Alasala College of Business, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
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The connection between natural resource use, renewable energy adoption, and achieving carbon neutrality has sparked extensive debate in recent years. In response, many countries are implementing policies aimed at transitioning to low-carbon, sustainable economies. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), representing 42% of the global population and 25% of its landmass, wields considerable geopolitical influence. However, limited empirical studies have explored the interplay between natural resource rents, renewable energy use, and territorial CO₂ emissions (TCO₂) within its member states. This study employs the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) to analyze disaggregated resource rents and renewable energy adoption effects on TCO₂ across SCO nations from 2000 to 2021, addressing a critical research gap with policy-relevant insights. The results align with prior research, indicating that countries rich in natural resources generally exhibit higher CO2 emissions, primarily driven by their dependence on fossil fuels. The statistically insignificant coefficients for renewable energy across all quantiles indicate its limited and inconsistent influence on TCO₂ emissions. This underscores the challenge posed by sluggish renewable adoption, particularly in oil-dependent economies, in mitigating carbon output. The continued prevalence of non-renewable energy sources remains a substantial obstacle. To overcome this challenge, it is essential for policies to focus on expediting the transition to renewable energy by investing in infrastructure, technology, and innovation. This research adds to the broader conversation on achieving a balance between energy-resource consumption and environmental sustainability.
Keywords: Territorial-based CO2 emissions, Natural resources, renewable electricity consumption, Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO), MMQR
Received: 12 Aug 2025; Accepted: 25 Sep 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Anas, H. Alsabhan and Ali. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Muhammad Anas, anas@cug.edu.cn
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