Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

Contents lists available at ScienceDirect

Energy Reports
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/egyr

Modeling the nexus between carbon emissions, urbanization,

population growth, energy consumption, and economic development
in Asia: Evidence from grey relational analysis
∗
Erum Rehman a ,1 , , Shazia Rehman b ,1
a
School of Economics, Shandong University of Finance and Economics, Shandong, 250014, China
b
Department of Biomedical Sciences, Pak-Austria Fachhochschule, Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, Haripur 22621, Pakistan

article info a b s t r a c t

Article history: Environmental degradation has been identified as a major worldwide concern in recent decades, with
Received 1 November 2021 CO2 emissions considered as one of the primary drivers of this catastrophe. This study creatively
Received in revised form 22 February 2022 analyzes the underlying impact of urbanization, population growth, Gross domestic product (GDP)
Accepted 23 March 2022
per capita, energy use on CO2 emissions to mitigate the environmental degradation from the five
Available online xxxx
most populated regions of Asia i.e., China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and Bangladesh. To investigate
Keywords: the integrated impact of CO2 emission and associated factors, a grey relational analysis (GRA) based
CO2 emissions weights and ranking were estimated for the year 2001 to 2014. Then, utilizing the Conservative
Grey relational analysis minimax approach, we sought to determine which country contributes the most to CO2 emissions
Urbanization based on weights acquired by Second Synthetic Grey Relational Analysis (SSGRA). The Grey technique
Population growth
for order of preference by similarity to ideal solution (G-TOPSIS) technique was employed for further
Energy use
optimization by prioritizing the explanatory factors that have the greatest influence on CO2 emissions.
GDP per capita
G-TOPSIS The outcomes through GRA techniques discovered that India is a major contributor of carbon emission
caused by population growth and economic development. Whereas the use of energy and urbanization
are grounded factors of emission for China and Pakistan respectively. The outcomes of the Conservative
minimax criterion indicate that India is a leading contributor to carbon emissions in Asia. Also, the
unsustainable growth of population and CO2 emissions indicates a direct causative relationship for
environmental damage based on the G-TOPSIS. The findings of the study potentially aid governments
and policymakers in making better decisions and investments to mitigate CO2 emissions while
fostering a more environmentally friendly atmosphere.
© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND
license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).

1. Introduction components of GHGs emissions causing deterioration in the en-

vironment (Apergis et al., 2010; Ozturk and Acaravci, 2013).
The impact of economic activity on CO2 emissions at both The surge in carbon emissions is a primary challenge to cli-
national and international levels has become a prominent sub- mate change, a major ongoing concern for developed nations in
ject in the past three decades (Pata and Caglar, 2021). How- the emerging markets. Economic growth in industrialized coun-
ever, due to this massive production growth, it turns out to tries demands a comprehensive use of energy and so further
be an environmental catastrophe. Especially, it is an extremely wastes and leftovers are thrown into nature which might cause
environmental damage (Pata, 2018; Röck et al., 2020). The bulk
complicated issue in industrialized nations, and it is no longer
of CO2 emissions is generated using fossil fuels, such as coal,
pragmatically effective in unindustrialized economies (Murshed
the primary energy source for the automobile industry which is
et al., 2021; Röck et al., 2020). Countries are increasing their use
connected to economic growth and development (Bin Amin et al.,
of energy and other natural resources in order to attain max-
2012; Bibi and Jamil, 2021).
imum economic growth, which elevates greenhouse gas emis- According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change
sions (Adebayo et al., 2020). CO2 emissions are one of the largest (IPCC) report of (2019), 80% of global CO2 emissions such as
fuel use via transport and construction are accounted for by
∗ Corresponding author. human intervention. Considering that manufacturing processes
E-mail addresses: [email protected] (E. Rehman), have likewise been recognized as an important source of carbon
[email protected] (S. Rehman). emission, remedial steps are needed when decisions are taken
1 All authors contributed equally to this work. at a national level. In the past decade, researchers, industrialists,

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.egyr.2022.03.179
2352-4847/© 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-
nc-nd/4.0/).
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

and different governmental entities have focused increasingly potential for lowering emissions are the creation of non-fossil-
on reporting Carbon dioxide emissions and identifying strategies specific energy technologies (Gerlagh and van der Zwaan, 2003).
for the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in sub- Reducing the usage of fossil fuels may have lesser consequences
stantial increases in research papers connected to environmental and optimum rates of the carbon price. We find parallels with
sustainability (Anon., 0000). Asian countries in their efforts to safeguard economic interests
Lu et al. (2016) also investigated carbon emissions from the while fighting climate change (Xia and Wang, 2020).
manufacturing sector and offered insight into the various Envi- Furthermore, Cherp et al. (2018) analyzed environmental pol-
ronmental impacts from the industry (Guan et al., 2018). The lution and discovered a substantial impact on the general wellbe-
analysis of previous CO2 patterns has become a viable technique ing climatic model, and radioactive forces. Air pollution qualities
for comprehending present emissions and consequently project- are therefore needed to show their origins, features, and chemical
ing future emissions, as demonstrated by Hammond and Norman compositions. The objective of this survey was to establish a
(2012). According to the International Energy Agency (2016), the model that minimizes the cumulative impact of Carbon dioxide
world economy grows at an average rate of 3.4 percent per emissions from energy use, pollution growth, and GDP per capita.
year, and population growth in 2040 is expected to range from In addition, the intertemporal connection is then explored (Cherp
around 7.4 billion to about 9 billion. While the growth in major et al., 2018). If energy consumption includes an optimum combi-
cities is projected to rise from 22 (current mega-city numbers) nation of non-regenerative and renewable energy (Rehman and
to 100,000 Brine Bulb Technology (BBT) by 2050 (International Rashid, 2017; Mohsin et al., 2019), and economy can be sustain-
Energy Agency, 2016). able to ensure that policymakers and decision-makers know the
Asia, which accounts for 60% of the global population, is by far reasonable approach of access to energy to economic growth and
the largest emitter, accounting for 53% of global emissions (Vid- carbon emissions (Mohsin et al., 2019).
yarthi, 2015). However, Asia’s breakthrough in emissions hap- The link between GDP per capita and environmental qual-
pened mainly in the last several decades. Now, China ranks first ity has garnered a lot of attention in empirical and theoretical
in the world in terms of carbon emissions, emitting about 10 research. Previous research has shown conflicting results. Some
billion tons per year, accounting for more than one-quarter of of them concluded that economic development necessarily leads
worldwide emissions. Most people fulfill their energy demands to environmental deterioration owing to depletion of natural
by burning fossil-like coal and other non-renewable resources resources, whereas others believe that sustained economic devel-
which generate huge volumes of CO2 (Hanif, 2018). When non-
opment helps to enhance environmental quality. The solutions to
renewable sources continued to grow, CO2 concentration in Asian
these issues remain elusive and require further investigation in a
countries surged by 6.26 billion metric tons between 1974 and
particular setting.
2014.
The main objective of the research is to analytically validate
Energy, in terms of consumption and production, has become a
the influence of economic variables on environmental degrada-
vital aspect of the global economy. The energy demand has surged
tion as assessed by CO2 emissions for the top five most pop-
from 2002 to 5158 billion tons in the last two decades and has
ulous Asian nations, namely China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan,
negative effects on human health (Beşer and HızarcıBeşer, 2017).
and Bangladesh. Annual data from 2001 to 2014 are used for
In Asia, energy production supports 48% of urban emissions, agri-
empirical study objectives. The present analysis differs from the
cultural as 18%, the industry as 11%, residential as 9%, transport as
previous studies in terms of empirical technique, cluster of na-
9%, and waste as 5% (Berkhout et al., 2012). In 2012, the emissions
tions, and family of potential determinants. Consequently, the
of GHGs in Asia increased to 14.5 Gigatonnes equivalent (GT eq.)
contribution of this article is mirrored in the following three
representing over 46% of the world’s emissions. GHG emissions in
aspects. First, the grey relational analysis i.e., Deng grey rela-
Asia are expected to grow to 21.2 Gt of CO2 equivalent (U.S. En-
ergy, 2017). The main contributor to the emission of GHGs is tional analysis (DGRA), absolute grey relation analysis (AGRA),
energy. As the largest emitter of CO2 in Asia, China accounts for and second synthetic grey relational analysis (SSGRA) are em-
over 58% of Asian total CO2 emissions (IPCC, 2019). High depen- ployed to demonstrate that it outperforms traditional statistical
dency on fossil fuels has decreased air quality and biodiversity, models. As a result, it is an excellent contribution to the cur-
curtailed clean water supplies, and posed considerable health rent literature as it not only provides the relationship between
concerns (Marcotullio et al., 2012). Asia has become the world’s explanatory and response variables but also the degree of proxim-
largest source of greenhouse gas emissions, which are allied to ity (closeness/association). More extensively, Deng’s GRA model
climate change and global warming (Fulton et al., 2017). explores the partial closeness/proximity of two data sequences,
This effect is triggered not just by gradual increases in temper- whereas absolute GRA shows the integral closeness/proximity.
ature and sea level, but also by amplified climatic variations and While the SSGRG approach incorporates the advantages over both
extremities, such as more devastating floods, storms, and hurri- Deng’s GRA and absolute GRA models and illustrates a more
canes (Aryal et al., 2020). Millions of poor people in Asian coun- comprehensive closeness (inclusive proximity). Also, it provides
tries are affected by these trends, which have a substantial influ- a weighting scheme and ranking criteria, which is quite useful
ence on their economic prosperity, livelihoods, and lives (Aryal when several variables are included in the research. Secondly, the
et al., 2020; Tenaw and Beyene, 2021). Sabouni et al. (2014) conservative (Min–Max) approach is carried out to identify which
highlighted that in the 21st century, anthropological and eco- Asian country is contributing more to Carbon emissions. Third, a
logical issues became the focal point of current researchers and Multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) approach i.e., G-TOPSIS
environmental scientists as a result of the continuous population has been deployed to identify the key influencing explanatory
increase and the use of energy around the world (Sabouni et al., variables that intensify the carbon emissions.
2014). The structure of this paper is as follows: Section 2 exam-
Gerlagh & van der Zwaan (2003) investigated the influence ines the literature on the influencing factors that result in car-
on the optimal CO2 reductions and carbon tax rates of endoge- bon emissions. The third section introduces the data source and
nous technological modifications in the macroeconomic climate methodology. Section 4 introduces data analysis and the han-
model. The findings show, to meet the limitations necessary for dling of influencing factors. Conclusion and policy implications
atmospheric carbon levels, that endogenous innovation demands have conversed in Section 5. Also, future recommendations are
a quicker decline in emission. The main emphasis and the biggest provided based on the analysis of our data to reduce emissions.
5431
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

2. Literature review CO2 through this study. The outcomes of the study showed that
the quality of the environment was greatly reduced by economic
Carbon dioxide (CO2 ) emissions have been growing globally growth and CO2 .
for the past decade, according to reports. This aggravates climate Similarly, Lee & Jung, (2018) examined the link between the
change and leads to a slew of global environmental issues and use of energy and economic development using the autoregres-
hazards. As a result, it is important to investigate the primary sive distributed lag (ARDL) model to examine the relationship
beneficial and harmful CO2 drivers. Because higher emissions of between the study variables in South Korea from 1990 to 2012.
carbon dioxide raise the incidence of sickness and the number According to the findings, the use of energy has a negative influ-
of fatalities, the negative impacts of air pollution may exac- ence on economic growth. They argued that policymakers should
erbate the negative health effects. Based on this, governments prioritize economic growth rather than boosting renewable en-
have tried to curb Carbon emission through the development ergy (Lee and Jung, 2018). Tiwari, (2010) probed the impact of
of renewable, alternative, and green energy. Most of the re- energy use and economic growth on carbon emission. As per
search has focused on the causal relationship between the use findings, energy use and trade openness have a constructive in-
of energy, CO2 emissions, and economic growth. As a result, fluence on environmental degradation. The findings demonstrate
energy conservative may be antagonistic to GDP growth (Khan that there is a one-way correlation between economic growth,
et al., 2019; Liu et al., 2019; Gökmenoğlu and Taspinar, 2016; coal usage, and environmental damage, whereas there is a uni-
Zeb et al., 2014). Apergis & Payne, (2010) probed a panel error directional causality running between economic growth, trade
correction model to explore the relationship between energy openness, energy use, and environmental destruction (Tiwari,
use, economic growth, and environmental deterioration in 19 2010).
advanced economies and emerging nations. The findings show Using the ARDL model, Shahbaz et al. (2013) investigated
that energy use and economic growth have a beneficial influence the relationship between financial and GDP growth and Carbon
on environmental deterioration. Latin America and the Caribbean, emissions. As per findings, economic growth and energy use
are deemed emerging countries (Apergis et al., 2010). significantly raise CO2 emissions, but finance industry growth and
Anser et al. (2020) investigated the impact of non-renewable trade openness assist to reduce Carbon dioxide emissions (Shah-
energy use such as fossil fuels, consumption of renewable energy, baz et al., 2013). Amri (2017) investigated the link between GDP
and economic growth (industrialization) on emissions. The two- development. the energy use and environmental deterioration in
Algeria. The findings revealed that using energy increases Envi-
step system generalized technique of moments was used as a sta-
ronmental impacts (Amri, 2017). Pao & Tsai, (2010) investigated
tistical framework for this study, which covered the years 1990–
the impact of GDP growth and the utilization of energy on ecolog-
2015. Economic development, utilization of fossil fuel, compet-
ical degradations in Brazil, Russia, India, and China (BRIC) nations.
itive industrial growth, and urbanism all had a substantial and
The researched results show that the use of energy emphati-
beneficial influence on CO2 emissions, according to the find-
cally impacts Carbon emissions while economic growth contrarily
ings of this study. Conversely, by minimizing CO2 emissions,
impacts carbon emissions (Pao and Tsai, 2010). Siddiqui (2004)
renewable energy consumption and squared economic growth
scrutinized the relationship between economic growth and the
greatly enhanced the environmental quality (Anser et al., 2020).
use of energy within Pakistan. The data findings show that the
Fan et al. (2019) investigate the factors that influence carbon
utilization of energy improves Pakistan’s GDP growth (Siddiqui,
emissions in Belt and Road nations from 2000 to 2014. The
2004). The link between energy usage, economic growth, and
data show that the rise in carbon dioxide emissions caused by
environmental degradation was investigated by Kasman & Du-
energy consumption is derived from GDP per capita. Furthermore,
man, (2015) using the cointegration panel for analysis. The data
technological advancements have a favorable effect on Carbon
studied reveal that one-way causation stretches between energy
emission (Fan et al., 2019). Rehman et al. (2021) used a grey use and environment pollution and economic growth to energy
forecasting model to assess and predict GHGs emissions from five usage (Kasman and Duman, 2015).
major industries, including energy, industry, agricultural, land- Wang et al. (2011) analyzed the connection of utilization of
use change, and forestry and waste between 1990 to 2016, in energy, GDP growth, and Carbon emissions using panel data
Pakistan (Rehman et al., 2021). The findings suggested that indus- analysis in 28 areas of China for evaluation. The analyzed out-
try, land-use change, and forestry are more likely to be a cause of comes indicated that energy use and GDP growth contribute
future emissions. Dogan & Seker, (2016) have been focused on the to environmental deterioration (Wang et al., 2011). From 1985
European Union to establish the major drivers of CO2 emissions to 2016, Balsalobre-Lorente et al. (2018) looked at the impact
for the years 1980 to 2012. The study investigates the impact of GDP growth, renewable electricity, and natural resources on
on CO2 emissions of real income and openness of trade and Carbon dioxide emissions in the European Union Five (EU-5)
non-renewable and renewable energy (Dogan and Seker, 2016). nations i.e. France, Germany, Italy, Spain, United Kingdom. For
The statistical model used in this work was to examine the the countries under investigation, the examined data confirmed
relationships of the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC). The ma- the N shape EKC (i.e., cubic specification of EKC). The results
jor findings of EKC highlight that renewable energy and trade demonstrate that using renewable energy resources and natu-
are essential in reducing emission levels (Niu et al., 2011). In ral resources significantly reduces environmental deterioration,
the eight Asia-Pacific countries, which included four developing but economic growth increases the destruction of the environ-
nations: China, Indonesia, India, and Thailand, a long-run con- ment (Balsalobre-Lorente et al., 2018). Wang & Li, (2019) em-
nection between the energy use, GDP per capita, and CO2 , has ployed GRA models to identify 11 influencing factors that con-
been investigated via panel data. There has been a long-term tribute to Carbon emission and significant environmental risks
association between energy use, coal, oil, and CO2 emissions in (Fan et al., 2019; Li et al., 2007). Furthermore, (Rehman et al.,
developing countries. In contrast, natural gas and electricity may 2020) used the new GRA method to study the connection be-
not have a long-run association with carbon dioxide emissions. tween energy usage, GDP, population growth, and carbon emis-
The study also showed that energy use, especially in developing sions in Pakistan and found a high correlation across all sectors.
nations, was the major driver of CO2 emissions. Further, the Population, on the other hand, contributes more to the intensifi-
influence of GDP growth, energy innovation, and CO2 emissions cation of CO2 emissions in Pakistan’s transportation sector.
during the years 1995–16 was investigated by Balsalobre-Lorente An economy can follow a sustainable economic future if it de-
et al. (2018). The EKC examines the relationship between GDP and vours an optimal amalgamation of renewable and non-renewable
5432
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

energy with the aim that decision-makers and policymakers box. In this perspective, greyness indicates incompleteness, there-
should know the relative contributions of different energy sources fore a grey quantity or grey parameter is one that sits between
to GDP growth and Carbon dioxide emissions (Akhmat et al., two extreme values, and a grey mechanism relates to these grey
2014; Bakhsh et al., 2017; Olivier et al., 2015). parameters. GST and its model’s main strength is their ability
In the present analysis, we applied a mathematical model to anticipate and make decisions with limited sample size, poor
namely the GRA model to compute the weights and ranking data, and missing information. The fundamental advantage of GST
for defined economic parameters. Additionally, a conservative and related models is their ability to calculate the degree of close-
(maximin) criterion methodology is utilized to evaluate the es- ness and predict when the information available is limited, poor,
calating contributor of environmental deterioration across the or insufficient (Chambers et al., 2016). The GRA models attempt to
chosen Asian nations, using the second synthetic grey approach. comprehend the uncertain relationships between the character-
This research also fills the gap in the literature by examining istics associated with grey systems. Unlike traditional techniques,
the links between the utilization of energy, GDP per capita, ur- GST considers all stochastic variables as a grey parameter chang-
banization, population growth, and the carbon emissions in most ing within a predefined locale and a certain time frame, and each
populous Asian countries from 2001 to 2014. stochastic process as a grey process’’ (Liu et al., 2017a) (p. 45). The
diagrammatic framework of grey theory can be seen in Fig. 1.
3. Material and methods
3.2.2. Deng degree of grey relational analysis (DDGRA)
3.1. Data source Deng was the first to propose the GRA concept in the 1980s.
Deng’s GRA model is built around the estimation of a degree of
For empirical analysis, the annual time series data from the proximity, or grey relational grade (GRG) (Huang et al., 2019).
period of 2001 to 2014 are utilized. Data on explanatory variable GRG is defined as ‘‘a degree of partial proximity (or partial close-
(comparative sequence) i.e., the use of energy is used as kt of ness) between two curves that is determined by averaging the
oil equivalent,2 GDP per capita data is utilized as constant 2005 grey relational coefficients’’ at each point in a data series ac-
US$,3 CO2 is used as a proxy for environmental degradation (ref- cording to Mahmoudi et al. (2019) (Javed et al., 2020). Deng’s
erence sequence) and measured as metric ton per capita emission GRA model calculates the trend similarity of system factors based
of carbon dioxide,4 and urbanization (urban population)5 and on the space between the corresponding sequence points (Yuan
the total population6 data are employed for data analysis. All et al., 2014; Mumtaz et al., 2022). The following are the stages
the research data used in the present study is taken from the required in calculating Deng’s Grey incidence:
World Development Indicators (2020 World Bank, 2020), The
Step-I: The initial image of Z0 and Zj , j = 1, 2, . . . , p, was com-
World Bank database is publicly available data therefore, we will
puted in the first step. Where,
not be making that available. All data analysis is executed in
MATLAB and Microsoft Excel, while the graphical representation Zj
Z ′j = = z ′ j (1) , z ′ j (2) , . . . , z ′ j (n) ; j = 0, 1, 2, 3 . . . , p.
( )
is handled in Microsoft Visio and Origin Pro 2021. zj (1)
(1)
3.2. Grey system theory (GST)

Step-II: The difference between the sequences Z0′ and Zi′ i = 1,

3.2.1. Grey relational analysis
2,3, . . . , p is calculated in the second step.
Grey relational analysis (GRA), grey correlation analysis, and
grey incidence analysis (GIA) are all terms for the same phe- ∆j (r ) =∥z ′ 0 (r ) − z ′ j (r ) ∥, ∆ = (∆j (1) , ∆j (2) , . . . , ∆j (n)) ,
nomenon, which was initially identified in 2018 by Javed et al. (2)
j = 1, 2, 3, . . . , p.
(2018) (Akhmat et al., 2014; Javed and Liu, 2018) GRA techniques
are one of the key topics of grey system theory (GST), developed Step-III: The difference between the maximum and the minimum
in 1982 by a Chinese scientist, Deng Ju long, to handle uncertain is computed in the third step, which may be represented as M =
information-based systems (Wu and Liu, 2009). GST refers to a maxj maxr ∆j (R), and M = minj minr ∆j (R).
group of theories that are inherently uncertain, such as fuzzy the-
ory, interval theory, rough set theory, and so on (Wei and Liang, Step-IV: The coefficients of Grey incidence are calculated in the
2019). However, GST, directed by its distinct system, manages fourth stage using the given formula:
(vulnerable data) uncertainty systems when other uncertainty p + µM
theories cannot (Liu and Yang, 2017). GST classifies the world’s γ0j (r ) = ; µ ∈ (0, 1) ; r = 1, 2, . . . , k;
∆j (r ) + µM (3)
systems into three main categories: black, white, and grey. A
j = 1, 2, . . . , p
black system refers to one in which no information is known,
whereas a white system refers to one in which all information Where, µ is the distinguishing coefficient, assuming µ = 0.5.
is known. As a result, a grey system theory turns into a mecha- While there is no substantial justification for this assumption,
nism with to some degree is known and to some extent obscure analysts are still looking into it to see whether they are correct.
data (Mahmoudi et al., 2018). Furthermore, it is widely known
Step-V: The grey relational degree/gradient (GRG), also known as
in the literature that it is feasible on small samples (Mahmoudi
Deng’s degree of grey incidence, is calculated in the fifth step as
et al., 2019).
follows:
The idea of ‘grey’ in GST was derived from the engineering
k
concept of grey box, a partial combination of a black and white 1 ∑(
γ0j = γ0j (R) ; j = 1, 2, . . . , p.
)
(4)
k
r =1
2 https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EG.USE.PCAP.KG.OE
3 https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/NY.GDP.PCAP.KD.ZG If we replace the fractional form of 1/k with the weights wk , we
4 https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/EN.ATM.CO2E.PC get the following:
5 https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.URB.TOTL.IN.ZS ∑ 1
6 https://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SP.POP.TOTL γ 0j = R= ; j = 1, 2, 3 . . . , p. (5)
k (γ 0j (R) × w r )
5433
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

Fig. 1. Framework of Grey relational analysis.

⏐ k=1 ⏐ ⏐ k=1 ⏐
Also, if the influence of each element on the system
∑ is not the ⏐ ⏐ ⏐⏐∑ 1 0
⏐ ⏐∑ 1 0 ⏐
⏐
same, the aggregate of weights will equal to one ( w r = 1). The
⏐sj ⏐ = ⏐ zj (R) + zj (k)⏐
0
and |si | = ⏐ zi (R) + zi (k)⏐ ,
0
⏐ ⏐
1
⏐ 2 ⏐ ⏐ 2 ⏐
expresses that the weighting parameters are evenly distributed, r =2 r =2
k
also, the wk indicates that the weighting parameters are unevenly (6)
distributed.
The absolute difference between sj − si can be computed as:
⏐ k=1 ⏐
3.2.3. Absolute degree of grey relational analysis (ADGRA)
⏐∑ (
0 0
) 1( 0 0
)⏐⏐
|sj − si | = ⏐ zj (R) − zi (R) + z (k) − zi (k) ⏐ (7)
⏐
The steps to obtain the absolute GRA in two equal time inter- ⏐ 2 j ⏐
r =2
vals equally spaced between Z0 and Z1 are as follows:
Step-III: At the end, we use the method below to get the ab-
Step-I: Based on the interval sequence in Z0 and Z1 , the zero solute degree of grey incidence (ε01 ) between the time interval
starting point pictures Z00 and Z10 are computed in the first step. sequences Z0 and Z1 :
Step-II: The second step proceeds with the computation of |s0 |, 1 + |s0 | + |s1 |
|s1 | & |s1 − s0 |. Where, ε01 = (8)
1 + |s0 | + |s1 | + |s1 − s0 |
5434
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

Chapter 5 of Liu and Forrest (2010) is recommended for further 3.4. Grey TOPSIS method
knowledge on GIA models, such as Deng’s GRA and absolute GRA,
and their properties. Also, to check the steps of the calculations Huang and Yun proposed the TOPSIS idea in 1981, in which
in detail, the following piece of literature is referred (Chen, 2012). ‘n’ alternatives are evaluated using ‘m’ number of criteria. The
TOPSIS method’s main goal is to find +ve and −ve ideal solutions
3.2.4. Second synthetic degree of grey incidence analysis (SSDGIA) (variants) to a situation that have the greatest relative proximity
model to the pattern (+ve) and the least relative proximity to the
The values for the SSDGIA model can be finally computed as: anti-pattern (−ve). The +ve ideal solution portrays the raise in
ρji = θ εji + (1–θ) γji ; θ ∈ [0, 1] , (9) the response variable, while the −ve ideal solution portrays the
decline in the response variable. Since data is not always pre-
where, ρ ji : the Second synthetic degree of grey incidence/grey cise, the Grey theory is employed to account for ambiguities. As
relation (SSGRG), γij : Deng’s degree of grey incidence/grey rela- new techniques emerge, the TOPSIS method continues to evolve.
tion (GRG), and ε ji : the absolute degree of grey incidence/grey We employed this approach in conjunction with grey numbers
relation (absolute GRG). Moreover, Deng’s GRA model is built from grey system theory (GST) in the current investigation. This
on the coefficient of grey incidence at specific places, and the technique is solved using the steps listed below (Ren et al., 2007;
absolute GRA model is established on a combined (reasonably Tabor, 2019) and can be seen in Fig. 2.
comprehensive) viewpoint. The SSGIA establishes a connection
between two sequence levels and a vital component. In combina- Stage-1: Initially, Grey numbers with the accompanying values
tion with absolute and relative Grey incidence, the first synthetic are assigned to verbal judgments of criteria significance by the
Grey incidence analysis (SGIA) approach was established (Liu decision makers: highly insignificant [0.0, 0.2], insignificant [0.2,
et al., 2017b). The SSGIA model was established based on the 0.4], moderately significant [0.4, 0.6], significant [0.6, 0.8], highly
SGIA model’s working standard. When making judgments, it is significant [0.8, 1.0] (Mahmoudi et al., 2019).
advisable to consider θ = 0.5 to get a complete positioning that Stage-2: We use the arithmetic mean technique to aggregate the
evenly balances the benefits of the two terms, i.e., γ and ε , and results after determining the level of significance of the decision-
without preferring one over the other, and, if essential, may be
making criteria (h) by assuming the number of decision-makers
altered. If it is required to inscribe γ , the θ calculation may be
as p:
reduced at that stage, but, if necessary, the overall value can also
be enhanced at the same stage (Javed et al., 2019). 1[
⊗wh1 + ⊗wh2 + · · · + ⊗whp ,
]
⊗wh =
p (16)
3.3. Grey numbers p
[ p p]
where : ⊗ wh = w i , w h
A Grey number represents an interim with unspecified infor- Stage-3: To establish the state of each of the criteria, the linguistic
mation but a well-defined range of possibilities which is depicted variables ought to be employed. The score of alternative k in the
by a sign ⊗. In the GST, there are multiple forms of grey numbers; criteria h is determined by the accompanying relation, presuming
however, the present study introduces the following three forms: that the frequency of decision-makers is p:
Description 1: If ⊗E is a grey number whose lower limit can
1[
⊗R1kh + ⊗R2kh + · · · + ⊗Rpkh ,
]
only be evaluated, it is termed a grey number with a lower limit ⊗Rkh = (17)
only and is expressed as ⊗E = [E , ∞). p
Description 2: If ⊗E is a grey number whose upper limit can p
where; ⊗ Rkh , (k = 1, 2, . . . , n; h = 1, 2, . . . , m) is an estimation
only be evaluated, it is termed a grey number with an upper limit of the criterion by the pth decision-maker,
only and is expressed as ⊗E = (∞, E ]. [ which ] is displayed in
p
p p
Description 3: If ⊗E is a grey number whose lower and upper a structure by a grey number: ⊗Rkh = Rkh , Rkh .
limit can only be evaluated, ] it is termed an interval grey number Stage-4: In the fourth stage, constructing the grey decision matrix
is expressed as ⊗E = E , E .
[
in the following structure:
Let ⊗E = E , E and ⊗ H = H , H are two Grey numbers, then
[ ] [ ]
⊗R11 ⊗R11 ··· ⊗R1m
⎡ ⎤
arithmetic operations ought to be composed in the manner as
follows: ⎢⊗R21 ⊗R11 ··· ⊗R2m ⎥
⎣ ..
R=⎢ .. ..
.
.. ⎥ (18)
⊗E + ⊗ H = E + H , E − H . . .
[ ]
(10)
⎦
⊗Rn1 ⊗Rn2 ··· ⊗Rnm
⊗E − ⊗H = ⊗E + (− ⊗ H ) = E − H , E − H
[ ]
(11)
[ { } { }] Stage-5: Established the normalized grey decision matrix in the
⊗E × ⊗H = Min EHEHEHEH Max EHEHEHEH (12)
accompanying structure:
⊗E
= ⊗E × ⊗H −1 (13) ⊗R∗11
⎡
⊗R∗12 ··· ⊗R∗1m
⎤
⊗H [ { }] { } ⎢⊗R∗21 ⊗R∗22 ··· ∗
⊗R2m ⎥
E E E E E E E E R∗ = ⎢
⎣ .. .. ..
.
.. ⎥ ⎦, (19)
= Min
HHHH
Max
HHHH
. . .
⊗R∗n1 ⊗R∗n2 ··· ⊗R∗nm
The length of the grey number ⊗E = E , E is introduced by the
[ ]
If the variable attribute is beneficial, the normalization equation
following equation: is as follows:
R (⊗E ) = E − E
[ ]
(14) Rkh Rkh
∗
, , and Rmax
{ }
⊗Rkh = h = max Rkh (20)
If there are two Grey numbers ⊗E = E , E and ⊗ H = H , H , the Rmax Rmax
[ ] [ ]
1≤k≤m
h h
degree of Grey synthetic assessment between these two numbers
can be estimated utilizing Eq. (19) And, on the off chance that the variable attribute is non-beneficial,
the data is normalized using the accompanying equation.
Max 0, R∗ − Max 0, E , H
{ ( )}
,
[ ]
P {⊗E ≤ ⊗H } = Rkh Rkh
R∗ (15) ∗
⊗Rkh = , , and Rmin
{ }
= min Rkh (21)
h
where R∗ = R (⊗E ) + R (⊗H ) Rmin
h Rmin
h
1≤k≤m

5435
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

Fig. 2. Grey-TOPSIS methodology operationalized in the study.

The Grey matrix’s range will remain within [0, 1] after normal- Stage-8: Determine the anti-ideal solution based on the assump-
ization. tion that given the set of ‘n’ prospective alternatives V =
Stage-6: Assemble the weighted normalized grey decision- {V1 , V2 , V3 , . . . , Vn }, anti-pattern V min should be identified as fol-
making matrix in the accompanying structure: lows:
⊗C11 ⊗C12 ⊗C1m V min = ⊗C1min , ⊗C2min , . . . , ⊗Cm
min
{ }
···
⎡ ⎤
(24)
⊗C21 ⊗C22 ··· ⊗C2m ⎥
⎦,
⎢
R∗ω = ⎢
⎣ .. .. .. .. ⎥ (22) where, V min = {[min1≤k≤n C k1 , min1≤k≤n C k1 ], [min1≤k≤n C k2 ,
. . . . min1≤k≤n C k2 ], . . . , [min1≤k≤n C kn , min1≤k≤n C kn ]}
⊗Cn1 ⊗Cn2 ··· ⊗Cnm
∗ Stage-9: Estimate the distances between the alternatives under
where; ⊗ Ckh = ⊗Rkh × ⊗ωh
consideration, as well as the ideal (V max ) and anti-ideal (V min )
Stage-7: Determine the ideal solution based on the assumption solutions, employing the following formulas:
that given the set of ‘n’ prospective alternatives V = {V1 , V2 , m
V3 , . . . , Vn }, pattern V max should be identified as follows: ∑
D+ D Ckh , Chmax , and
( )
h =
V max = ⊗C1max , ⊗C2max , . . . , ⊗Cmmax
{ }
(23) h=1
m
(25)
where, V max
= {[max1≤k≤n C k1 , max1≤k≤n C k1 ], [max1≤k≤n C k2 ,
∑
−
,
Ckh Chmin for h = 1, 2, . . . , m;
( )
Dh = D
max1≤k≤n C k2 ], . . . , [max1≤k≤n C kn , max1≤k≤n C kn ]} h=1

5436
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442
√ [
where D (⊗CA , CB ) = 12 (CA − CB ) + C A − C B Table 1
( )]
Grey relational assessment between CO2 emissions and associated factors.
Stage-10: Create a synthetic assessment metric for variations SSk Deng GRG Rank Absolute GRG Rank SSGRG Rank
based on the relative proximity of variant evaluations to the ideal Urbanization vs. CO2 emissions
and anti-ideal solutions: China 0.7196 5th 0.7402 5th 0.7299 5th
India 0.8948 2nd 0.9054 3rd 0.9001 2nd
D−
SSk = k
, k = 1, 2, 3, . . . , n (26) Indonesia 0.7566 4th 0.7634 4th 0.7600 4th
D+ −
k + Dk
Pakistan 0.9199 1st 0.9217 1st 0.9208 1st
Bangladesh 0.8908 3rd 0.9090 2nd 0.8999 3rd
The closer the value of the measure is to one, the minimal
Population growth vs. CO2 emissions
the interval of the assessment of the variant away from the ideal
China 0.8900 2nd 0.9032 2nd 0.8966 2nd
solution (D+
k ), and, simultaneously,
( ) the maximum interval away India 0.8999 1st 0.9065 1st 0.9032 1st
from the anti-ideal solution D−k . Indonesia 0.8299 4th 0.8439 4th 0.8369 4th
Pakistan 0.8400 3rd 0.8464 3rd 0.8432 3rd
Stage-11: Then, in decreasing order, generate a rating for ‘n’ Bangladesh 0.7845 5th 0.7971 5th 0.7908 5th
alternatives based on linear streaming synthetic assessment met-
Energy use vs. CO2 emissions
rics. The alternative with the highest degree of grey synthetic
China 0.9166 1st 0.9245 1st 0.9308 1st
evaluation will end up contributing positively to the response India 0.8107 3rd 0.8191 3rd 0.8149 3rd
variable, whereas the alternative with the lowest degree of grey Indonesia 0.7301 5th 0.7377 5th 0.7339 5th
synthetic evaluation will end up contributing negatively. Pakistan 0.8488 2nd 0.8528 2nd 0.8508 2nd
This study is conducted in three stages. The first phase focuses Bangladesh 0.7799 4th 0.7887 4th 0.7843 4th
on determining and quantifying the degree of proximity between GDP per capita vs. CO2 emissions
the selected economies and each explanatory variable. This was China 0.8606 2nd 0.8690 2nd 0.8648 2nd
measured using advanced mathematical modeling of grey re- India 0.9143 1st 0.9261 1st 0.9202 1st
lational analysis (GRA) of grey system theory (GST). Based on Indonesia 0.7979 3rd 0.7707 3rd 0.7843 3rd
Pakistan 0.7100 4th 0.7358 4th 0.7229 4th
the GRA findings, a ranking sequence of the selected economies Bangladesh 0.6898 5th 0.7104 5th 0.7001 5th
is also obtained against each explanatory variable. Then, there
found a need to identify the one potential country which was high
in producing CO2 emissions based on each explanatory variable Table 2
Grey ranking order.
in the study. Therefore, in the second phase, we deployed a
Influencing factors SSGRG based ranking criteria
conservative (Min–Max) approach to identify the country with
Urbanization Pakistan > India > Bangladesh > Indonesia > China
the highest carbon emissions. After all of this investigation, the
Population growth India > China > Pakistan > Indonesia > Bangladesh
query of which explanatory variable is more influential in in- Energy use China > Pakistan > India > Bangladesh > Indonesia
creasing carbon emissions among the selected nations remains GDP per capita India > China > Indonesia > Pakistan > Bangladesh
unanswered. We moved on to the third step of the investigation
to seek an answer to this query. As a result, we employed the
G-TOPSIS technique to quantify the intensity of the selected de-
by the 2017 Population Census, 36.4% of the populace lives in
terminants and subsequently rank them using these weights. This
metropolitan regions.
study’s hybrid mathematical technique is beneficial for govern-
In 1998, this figure remained at 32.5 percent. The United
ments and policymakers in determining the best way to minimize
Nations Population Division (UNDP) gauges that, by 2025, al-
rising carbon emissions in the selected Asian region by stressing
the worst variables. most a large portion of the country’s populace will be living
in urban communities (UNDP, 2018). Likewise, India is ranked
as the second biggest contributor of carbon emission among
4. Results and discussion
the selected countries of Asia causing environmental degrada-
tion due to urbanization. During the post-liberalization period,
The present investigation is carried out using grey relational
India experienced a rural influx into urban areas, putting an
approaches to quantify the strength of association of urbaniza-
tion, population growth, energy use, and GDP per capita on Car- immense burden on productive agricultural land and ultimately
bon emissions among the top five populous countries of Asia resulting in environmental degradation. The impoverished class
i.e., China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, Bangladesh, for the years of India has been exacerbated in the large cities by the burden
2001 to 2014. Table 1 demonstrates the outcomes of Grey re- of this rural influx and resulted in widespread environmental
lational models, namely, the Deng GRG, Absolute GRG, and the degradation (Lakshmana, 2013; Sridhar, 2018). Though, a distinct
SSGRG for CO2 emissions and influential variables among selected sequence for India (0.9054:3rd) and Indonesia (0.7634:4th) are
Asian countries. The absolute GRG and the SSGRG models have generated among selected Asian countries based on the Absolute
values ranging from zero to one, whereas, Deng GRG has values GRG model. However, the weakest associations were discov-
ranging from 0.5 to 1. It is also considered highly associated if it is ered in China, demonstrating that China has sustained urbaniza-
near to 1 and weak if it diverges from 1. For the sake of clarity, the tion, which is highly beneficial in lowering carbon emissions and
ranking criteria based on grey relational analysis are displayed in therefore protecting the environment when compared to other
Table 2 in ascending order. Asian nations. As a result, it placed fifth among the selected
Urbanization is usually seen as strongly linked to economic countries with Grey relational weights of 0.7196, 0.7402, and
development and environmental degradation, especially in de- 0.7299 for Deng GRG, Absolute GRG, and SSGRG respectively.
veloped nations where it has often happened in conjunction. Altogether, the estimates from the three grey relational mod-
According to Deng GRG and Second Synthetic GRG findings, Pak- els uncovered that among the top 5 populous countries of Asia,
istan (0.9208:1st) has the highest linkage between high CO2 Pakistan (0.9208:1st) had all the earmarks of being the main
emissions and Urbanization and reveals that population growth country for increasing CO2 emissions owing to elevated urbaniza-
has an adverse on environmental degradation. Pakistan has the tion in its populace trailed by India (0.9001:2nd) and Bangladesh
most noteworthy pace of urbanization in South Asia. As indicated (0.8999:3rd). The use of infrastructure, energy, and transportation
5437
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

Fig. 3. Grey synthetic ranking for the selected explanatory variables with CO2 emissions.

increases as the urban population grows, and the shift in popula- The use of energy is regarded to be an important factor of
tion from agricultural to industrial sectors may result in increased production for economic activities and economic growth stimu-
pollution of the environment. These findings corroborate those of lates by increasing energy demands which may result in various
Azam and Khan (2016), Shafiei and Salim (2014) and Dai et al. greenhouse gases emission. The present study investigates the
(2018). (See Fig. 3). impact of energy use on Carbon emissions among selected pop-
Further, Table 1 shows a review of the relationship between ulous Asian nations. The outcomes of GIA exhibited that China
Population growth and CO2 emissions for 5 populous Asian coun- positioned top under the SSGRG model (0.8149:1st) which iden-
tries using Grey relational models. The outcomes of this study re- tifies a strong influence of energy use as a major influential
inforce earlier investigations substantiating the relationship and factor of carbon emissions. The utilization of energy use in China
significance of carbon emission and population growth. Given the has continued to rise in parallel with the country’s rapid ur-
weights determined by each of the three Grey relational models, banization and industrialization. Fast-growing GDP, low energy
a variety of negative impacts and consequences are linked to utilization efficiency, integrated unsustainable energy, and an in-
elevated population growth and carbon emission. India is dis- dustrial structure skewed toward heavy industry have all become
tinguished as the most grounded contributor of CO2 emission vital forces driving the rise in the use of energy (Yang et al., 2020;
Rehman et al., 2022). Furthermore, carbon dioxide emissions
among the 5 populous countries of Asia due to elevated growth
in China are unquestionably increasing in conjunction with the
of population based on three grey relational models i.e., Deng
country’s sustained economic growth. Energy security and envi-
GRG:0.8999, absolute GRG:0.9065, SSGRG:0.9032. China is ranked
ronmental degradation must be balanced against this increase in
as the second major contributor of carbon emission based on
energy demand. The outcomes of our study are consistent with
SSGRG (0.8966: 2nd). Bangladesh, on the other hand, appeared
those of Yang et al. (2020), Fei et al. (2011) and Xu et al. (2020).
in fifth place and was found to be the least influential factor in
Pakistan ranked the second position for most influencing car-
environmental degradation caused by population growth (Lak-
bon emission through energy use and showed a strong asso-
shmana, 2013). India accounts for 18% of the global population
ciation. The utilization of energy use in Pakistan is profoundly
and is the world’s second-most populous country, with 1.3 billion reliant on imported oil for energy production. The utilization of
people. While China ranked as the world’s first populous country oil was 216.69 Kiloliters (K) barrels during 1990–91 in Pakistan
with 1.4 billion residents. According to the United Nations World whereas this figure roughly increased until the year 2017 to
Population Prospects Report 2019, India’s population will surpass 588.62 K barrel oil (Mohsin et al., 2019). While, Indonesia, by all
that of China by 2027, with the gap expected to widen even accounts, seemed to be the least persuasive nation where a fragile
further by 2050. Between 2019 and 2050, 55 nations or regions association is being observed between air pollution and the use
are expected to see their population decline by basically 1%. of energy under the Deng GRG (0.7301: 5th). As a result, the air
In the biggest of these, China’s populace is projected to con- quality directive is deteriorating, urban obstruction is expanding,
tract by 31.4 million, or 2.2 percent. That would put China’s and conditions in metropolitan cities are rapidly declining, while
populace at 1.1 billion, less than the 1.5 billion conjectures for economic growth and environmental preferences are being struck
India. While the report predicts that by 2050, the world’s popu- off against one another. Such as, the changeover from natural
lation will have risen to 9.7 billion people, a staggering increase in agriculture to innovative agricultural devices is environmentally
just one century. In less than a decade, India will overtake China harmful but economically beneficial. Economic development is
as the world’s most populous country (United Nations, 2019). cited as a primary cause of environmental degradation, with the
5438
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

Table 3 Table 4
Definition of decision parameters. Decision matrix based on GIA.
Parameters Evaluating Grey relational association between SSGRG N1 N2 N3 N4 N5
CO2 emissions and influencing factors for B1 0.7299 0.9001 0.7600 0.9208 0.8999
Asia’s top 5 populous countries B2 0.8966 0.9032 0.8369 0.8432 0.7908
Countries (Np ); China (N1 ) B3 0.9308 0.8149 0.7339 0.8508 0.7843
p = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 India (N2 ) B4 0.8648 0.9202 0.7843 0.7229 0.7001
Indonesia (N3 )
Pakistan (N4 )
Bangladesh (N5 )
Table 5
Influencing factors (Bk ); Urbanization (B1 )
Weighted normalized grey assessments.
k = 1, 2, 3, 4 Population growth (B2 )
Energy use (B3 ) N1 N2 N3 N4 N5
GDP per capita (B4 ) B1 [0.25, 0.49] [0.35, 0.65] [0.22, 0.36] [0.24, 0.53] [0.42, 0.91]
B2 [0.55, 0.86] [0.35, 0.65] [0.38, 0.72] [0.25, 0.48] [0.29, 0.49]
B3 [0.25, 0.49] [0.16, 0.42] [0.22, 0.36] [0.18, 0.65] [0.42, 0.91]
notion that increasing production leads to an increase in pol- B4 [0.55, 0.86] [0.10, 0.65] [0.38, 0.72] [0.18, 0.65] [0.29, 0.55]
lution. Over the last decade, all the trends of environmental
degradation, such as greenhouse gas emissions, biodiversity loss,
and deforestation have accelerated. Expanded eco has fueled Table 6
Ideal and anti-ideal solutions.
such patterns of environmental destruction. For this purpose,
N1 N2 N3 N4 N5
the nexus between GDP per capita, and environmental degrada-
tion must be explored in a world where economies continue to Bmax [0.55, 0.86] [0.35, 0.65] [0.38, 0.72] [0.25, 0.65] [0.42, 0.91]
flourish, and output continues to rise. Bmin [0.25, 0.49] [0.10, 0.42] [0.22, 0.36] [0.18, 0.48] [0.29, 0.49]
Taking into account, the impact of GDP per capita on carbon
emission among the five most populous selected Asian
economies, an interesting ranking pattern showed up. The in- Table 7
fluential factor GDP per capita had all the earmarks of being Estimated distances of the alternatives (Bah ) from the ideal and anti-ideal
solution.
more striking on carbon emissions in the dense populace of
India (Deng GRG:0.9143, absolute GRG:0.9261, SSGRG:0.9202). As N1 N2 N3 N4 N5 Σ
the estimates are close to one and indicate a strong association D+
between the influenced factors, carbon emissions, and environ- B1 0.67 0.00 0.52 0.13 0.00 1.32
B2 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.17 0.55 0.72
mental degradation. Further, it reveals that India’s economic B3 0.67 0.42 0.52 0.07 0.00 1.68
development has yet to reach the threshold of decreasing levels B4 0.00 0.25 0.16 0.07 0.49 0.97
of pollution. D−
Similarly, China and Bangladesh ranked second (0.8648) and B1 0.00 0.48 0.00 0.11 0.55 1.14
third (0.7843) based on the Second synthetic GRG revealing that B2 0.67 0.48 0.52 0.07 0.00 1.74
B3 0.00 0.06 0.00 0.17 0.55 0.78
after India, these nations had the most noteworthy impact of GDP
B4 0.67 0.23 0.36 0.17 0.06 1.49
per capita on CO2 emissions, with a significant degree of corre-
lation. The present findings corroborate dozens of prior studies
that show a substantial role of GDP per capita in the development,
progression, as well as carbon emissions. These estimates are in
According to the estimated statistics, India accounts for a siz-
line with the findings given by Yao et al. (1971), Yasmeen et al.
able portion of CO2 emissions among the selected nations due to
(2020) and Wei et al. (2017).
population growth. The findings of this decision-making approach
One can see that the ranking patterns acquired through three
distinct grey relational models are very much comparable and underline that India has the potential to foster a new strategy and
identical. However, the key point of distinction was the rela- identify opportunities for improvement to reduce the overall CO2
tive association between the influenced factors was the relative emissions in the Asian region of choice.
strength.
A decision-making strategy must be established for a com- 4.2. Grey TOPSIS analysis
parative decision analysis before it can be utilized for further
investigation. In Table 4, which is based on the SS degree of the In this section, Grey TOPSIS has been adopted to estimate and
grey incidence-based matrix, the ‘‘SS incidence grey relations’’ rank the strength of the four explanatory variables (urbanization,
between the decision criteria and action are reported. Here, in population growth, energy use, and GDP per capita) on CO2 emis-
this case, k = 4 and p = 5, and output = ν (Bk , NP ) are used, sions for each selected country (N1 –N5 ). Using linguistic variables,
whereas k = 1, 2, 3, 4, and p = 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. The classification of
we converted the decision-making criteria into grey numbers and
decision parameters is detailed in Table 3.
then created a weighted normalized grey decision-making matrix
4.1. The conservative (Min–Max) criterion for each of the explanatory variables across all five selected Asian
nations independently (Table 5). Based on that, we determined
We then used the Conservative (Min–Max) approach to test the patterns for the ideal (Bmax ) and anti-ideal (Bmin ) solutions and
the robustness of the empirical findings based on SSGRA and to then computed the distances of the alternatives (B1 –B6 ). In doing
determine which Asian country contributes the most to CO2 emis- so, urbanization, population growth, and the use of energy were
sions. This criterion is incorporated in line with the guidelines regarded as non-beneficial variables, whereas GDP per capita was
given by Prasad (2015). Since CO2 emissions must be kept to a considered a beneficial variable. Table 6 displays the ideal and
minimum, a minimax criterion is used, as shown below: anti-ideal solution results, while Table 7 shows the estimated
⎧
0.9208⎪
⎫ intervals from the ideal (Bmax ) and anti-ideal (Bmin ) solutions.
0.9032
⎪
⎨ ⎬ Using Eq. (26), we computed the Grey synthetic assessment
min Np max Bk v Bk , Np = min Np = 0.9032
{ ( )}
⎩0.9308⎪
⎪ degree of the specified alternatives (SSK ) based on the distances
0.9202 (D+ , D− ) determined in Table 7; S(B1 ) = 0.463, S(B2 ) = 0.707, S(B3 )
⎭

5439
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

Fig. 4. Grey synthetic assessment degree for the selected explanatory variables.

= 0.317, S(B4 ) = 0.606. Then we generated a descending order plays a vital role, its energy consumption needs to be sustained to
rating of the alternatives as follows: minimize emissions and therefore, lessen environmental damage.
Energy Use < Urbanization < GDP per capita < Population To further, investigate the most influential country, a decision
growth analysis matrix is generated. For this purpose, a Conservative
Under an elucidation of the grey TOPSIS synthetic assess- (min–max) approach was adopted based on the second synthetic
ment, it is concluded that the energy use (0.317) variable had GRG model, showing that India is the biggest producer of CO2
all the earmarks of being the worst one in raising CO2 emissions emissions among the selected Asian nations i.e., China, Pakistan,
among the five selected Asian countries trailed by urbanization Bangladesh, Indonesia. Moreover, G-TOPSIS is utilized to inspect
(0.463). Whereas the population growth and GDP per capita are the most influential factor among all the explanatory variables
shown to be less influential variables in CO2 emissions among in this investigation that have raised the CO2 emissions in five
the selected variables. The diagrammatic association of the five selected countries of Asia. The findings reveal the consumption
selected variables can be seen in Fig. 4. Utilizing the Multiple- of energy is a significant cause of CO2 emissions.
Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) techniques in the present study Considering the findings of this study, governments should
will assist the government, policymakers, and decision-makers in focus on policies to encourage renewable energy uptake and use
drawing decisions on the best way to reduce carbon emissions in in an effort to minimize damage to the environment. This is
the selected Asian regions by emphasizing the worse explanatory especially significant for higher carbon-emitting nations; hence,
variables.
promoting research and investment efforts to enhance the pro-
To check the robustness and stability of the results we per-
duction and consumption of renewable sources of energy ought
formed a sensitivity analysis by changing weights allocated by
to be a top priority to reduce carbon emissions. Although renew-
expert feedback to examine the difference in ranking obtained
able energy is high, governments should encourage investment
by grey TOPSIS. Based on sensitivity analysis, the results remain
in various clean energy sources, such as solar and wind power.
consistent with a slight change in the ranking pattern which
Because renewable energies are of critical relevance for reducing
confirms the reliability of the chosen model with the associated
emissions, policies must be developed to prevent damage to the
procedure.
environment.
5. Conclusion To stimulate the transition from non-renewable sources to
renewable and cleaner energy sources, nations should also offer
To address this environmental concern, the present study additional funding for improved technology and research. Within
takes a step forward in evaluating the degree of correlation these countries, legislators should also develop and execute eco-
between urbanization, populace development, energy use, and nomic growth-oriented policies to bring about a steady decrease
GDP per capita on Carbon emissions among the most five pop- in carbon emissions. The use of cleaner sources and mitigation of
ulated nations of Asia i.e., China, India, Indonesia, Pakistan, and environmental damage is increased by growth-oriented economic
Bangladesh, utilizing time series data for the period 2001 to strategies.
2014. Our research has been carried out using three grey re- The analysis is limited by the fact that the present study only
lation models Deng GRG, absolute GRG, and second synthetic includes the top five populous nations of Asia. It is suggested
GRG models which may be implemented as a viable alternative to explore more countries and other economic variables which
to conventional data analysis approaches. According to GRA’s impact CO2 emissions for extensive research. In addition, it is
results, India is the biggest emitter of CO2 in terms of population desirable to extend the study by examining the influence of
growth and economic development. While China’s energy use COVID-19 on the energy demand transitions. Evidence shows
5440
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

that, with the closing of industries, the utilization of energy de- Bibi, F., Jamil, M., 2021. Testing environment Kuznets curve (EKC) hypothesis
clined rapidly, while the air traffic and the use of public transport in different regions. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 28 (11), 13581–13594. http:
//dx.doi.org/10.1007/S11356-020-11516-2.
decreased substantially. However, the usage of surgical masks
Bin Amin, S., Ferdaus, S.S., Porna, A.K., 2012. Causal relationship among energy
and their heavy manufacturing could have extremely unpleasant use, CO 2 emissions and economic growth in world journal of social sciences
effects on the environment. Hence, we expect that the extension causal relationship among energy use, CO2 emissions and economic growth
of the data will address these issues profoundly. in Bangladesh: An empirical study introduction climate change as a res.
World J. Soc. Sci. 2 (4), 273–290.
Chambers, N., Hamzacebi, C., Fatih Bayramoglu, M., 2016. Grey system theory
CRediT authorship contribution statement supported Markowitz Portfolio Optimization during high volatility periods.
J. Grey Syst. 28 (4), 79–95.
Erum Rehman: Conception and design of study, Acquisition Chen, B.P., 2012. The application of the grey correlation method in the principal
of data, Analysis and/or interpretation of data, Writing – original component analysis. Eng. Forum 6–7, 676–681. http://dx.doi.org/10.4028/
www.scientific.net/aef.6-7.676.
draft, Writing – review & editing. Shazia Rehman: Conception
Cherp, A., Vinichenko, V., Jewell, J., Brutschin, E., Sovacool, B., 2018. Integrat-
and design of study, Acquisition of data, Analysis and/or inter- ing techno-economic, socio-technical and political perspectives on national
pretation of data, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & energy transitions: A meta-theoretical framework. Energy Res. Soc. Sci. 37,
editing. 175–190. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2017.09.015.
Dai, D., Liu, H., Wu, J., 2018. Urbanization, energy use, and CO2 emissions: A
provincial-level analysis of China. Energy Sources B. Online Available: https:
Declaration of competing interest
//www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/15567249.2011.637543. (9 August
2021).
The authors declare that they have no known competing finan- Dogan, E., Seker, F., 2016. The influence of real output, renewable and non-
cial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared renewable energy, trade and financial development on carbon emissions
in the top renewable energy countries. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 60,
to influence the work reported in this paper.
1074–1085. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.02.006.
Fan, J.L., et al., 2019. Determinants of carbon emissions in ‘belt and road
Acknowledgments initiative’ countries: A production technology perspective. Appl. Energy 239,
268–279. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2019.01.201.
This research did not receive any specific grant from funding Fei, L., Dong, S., Xue, L., Liang, Q., Yang, W., 2011. Energy consumption-economic
growth relationship and carbon dioxide emissions in China. Energy Policy 39
agencies in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.
(2), 568–574. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2010.10.025.
Fulton, L., Mejia, A., Arioli, M., Dematera, K., Lah, O., 2017. Climate change
References mitigation pathways for Southeast Asia: CO2 emissions reduction policies
for the energy and transport sectors. Sustainability 9 (7), 1160. http://dx.
2020 World Bank, 2020. 2020 World Bank World Development Indicators. World doi.org/10.3390/su9071160.
Bank, https://data.worldbank.org/. (Accessed 12 August 2010). Gerlagh, R., van der Zwaan, B., 2003. Gross world product and consumption
Adebayo, T.S., Awosusi, A.A., Adeshola, I., 2020. Determinants of CO2 emissions in a global warming model with endogenous technological change. Resour.
in emerging markets: An empirical evidence from mint economies. Int. J. Energy Econ. 25 (1), 35–57. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0928-7655(02)00020-
Renew. Energy Dev. 9 (3), 411–422. http://dx.doi.org/10.14710/IJRED.2020. 9.
31321. Gökmenoğlu, K., Taspinar, N., 2016. The relationship between CO2 emissions,
Akhmat, G., Zaman, K., Shukui, T., Sajjad, F., Khan, M.A., Khan, M.Z., 2014. The energy consumption, economic growth and FDI: The case of Turkey. 8199
challenges of reducing greenhouse gas emissions and air pollution through (March), https://doi.org/10.1080/09638199.2015.1119876.
energy sources: Evidence from a panel of developed countries. Environ. Sci. Guan, X., Wei, H., Lu, S., Dai, Q., Su, H., 2018. Assessment on the urbanization
Pollut. Res. 21 (12), 7425–7435. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-2693- strategy in China: Achievements, challenges and reflections. Habitat Int. 71,
2. 97–109. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.habitatint.2017.11.009.
Amri, F., 2017. Intercourse across economic growth, trade and renewable energy Hammond, G.P., Norman, J.B., 2012. Decomposition analysis of energy-related
consumption in developing and developed countries. Renew. Sustain. Energy carbon emissions from UK manufacturing. Energy 41 (1), 220–227. http:
Rev. 69, 527–534. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2016.11.230. //dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2011.06.035.
Anon., Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report of 2019, human Hanif, I., 2018. Impact of economic growth, nonrenewable and renewable energy
interference account for 80% of global CO2 emissions such as fuel com- consumption, and urbanization on carbon emissions in Sub-Saharan Africa.
bustion through vehicle travel, construction, and many other manufacturing Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 25 (15), 15057–15067. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/
processes have also been identified as a. s11356-018-1753-4.
Anser, M.K., Hanif, I., Alharthi, M., Chaudhry, I.S., 2020. Impact of fossil fuels, Huang, Y., Shen, L., Liu, H., 2019. Grey relational analysis, principal component
renewable energy consumption and industrial growth on carbon emissions analysis and forecasting of carbon emissions based on long short-term
in Latin American and Caribbean economies. Atmosfera 33 (3), 201–213. memory in China. J. Clean. Prod. 209, 415–423. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/
http://dx.doi.org/10.20937/ATM.52732. j.jclepro.2018.10.128.
Apergis, N., Payne, J.E., Menyah, K., Wolde-Rufael, Y., 2010. On the causal dy- International Energy Agency, 2016. IEA - report. Int. J. Renew. Energy Res..
namics between emissions, nuclear energy, renewable energy, and economic IPCC, 2019. IPCC climate change and land: An IPCC special report. In: Clim.
growth. Ecol. Econ. 69 (11), 2255–2260. Chang. L. an IPCC Spec. Rep. Clim. Chang. Desertif. L. Degrad. Sustain. L.
Aryal, J.P., Sapkota, T.B., Khurana, R., Khatri-Chhetri, A., Rahut, D.B., Jat, M.L., Manag. Food Secur. Greenh. Gas Fluxes Terr. Ecosyst. pp. 1–864, Online
2020. Climate change and agriculture in South Asia: Adaptation options in Available: https://www.ipcc.ch/srccl/.
smallholder production systems. Environ. Dev. Sustain. 22 (6), 5045–5075. Javed, S.A., Khan, A.M., Dong, W., Raza, A., Liu, S., 2019. Systems evaluation
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s10668-019-00414-4. through new grey relational analysis approach: An application on thermal
Azam, M., Khan, A.Q., 2016. Urbanization and environmental degradation: Evi- conductivity—Petrophysical parameters’ relationships. Processes 7 (6), 348.
dence from four SAARC countries—Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/PR7060348.
Environ. Prog. Sustain. Energy 35 (3), 823–832. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/ep. Javed, S.A., Liu, S., 2018. Evaluation of outpatient satisfaction and service quality
12282. of Pakistani healthcare projects. Grey Syst. Theory Appl. 8 (4), 462–480.
Bakhsh, K., Rose, S., Ali, M.F., Ahmad, N., Shahbaz, M., 2017. Economic growth, http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/GS-04-2018-0018/FULL/HTML.
CO2 emissions, renewable waste and FDI relation in Pakistan: New evidences Javed, S.A., Mahmoudi, A., Liu, S., 2020. Grey absolute decision analysis (GADA)
from 3SLS. J. Environ. Manag. 196, 627–632. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j. method for multiple criteria group decision-making under uncertainty. Int. J.
jenvman.2017.03.029. Fuzzy Syst. 22 (4), 1073–1090. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/S40815-020-00827-
Balsalobre-Lorente, D., Shahbaz, M., Roubaud, D., Farhani, S., 2018. How eco- 8.
nomic growth, renewable electricity and natural resources contribute to CO2 Kasman, A., Duman, Y.S., 2015. CO2 emissions, economic growth, energy
emissions? Energy Policy 113, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.10.050. consumption, trade and urbanization in new EU member and candidate
Beşer, M.K., HızarcıBeşer, B., 2017. The relationship between energy consump- countries: A panel data analysis. Econ. Model. 44, 97–103.
tion, CO2 emissions and GDP per capita: A revisit of the evidence from Khan, R., et al., 2019. Association between short-term exposure to fine particu-
Turkey. Alphanumeric J. http://dx.doi.org/10.17093/alphanumeric.353957. late matter and daily emergency room visits at a cardiovascular hospital in
Berkhout, F., Marcotullio, P., Hanaoka, T., 2012. Understanding energy transitions. Dhaka, Bangladesh. Sci. Total Environ. 646, 1030–1036. http://dx.doi.org/10.
Sustain. Sci. 7 (2), 109–111. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11625-012-0173-5. 1016/j.scitotenv.2018.07.288.

5441
E. Rehman and S. Rehman Energy Reports 8 (2022) 5430–5442

Lakshmana, C.M., 2013. Population, development, and environment in India. Ren, L., Zhang, Y., Wang, Y., Sun, Z., 2007. Comparative analysis of a novel
Chinese J. Popul. Resour. Environ. 11 (4), 367–374. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/ M-TOPSIS method and TOPSIS. Appl. Math. Res. Express 2007.
10042857.2013.874517. Röck, M., et al., 2020. Embodied GHG emissions of buildings – The hidden
Lee, S.-H., Jung, Y., 2018. Causal dynamics between renewable energy consump- challenge for effective climate change mitigation. Appl. Energy 258, 114107.
tion and economic growth in South Korea: Empirical analysis and policy http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.APENERGY.2019.114107.
implications. Energy Environ. 29 (7), 1298–1315. Sabouni, R., Kazemian, H., Rohani, S., 2014. Carbon dioxide capturing tech-
Li, L.-J., et al., 2007. Assessing the impact of climate variability and human nologies: A review focusing on metal organic framework materials (MOFs).
activities on streamflow from the wuding river basin in China. Hydrol. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 21 (8), 5427–5449. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/
Process. 21 (25), 3485–3491. http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/hyp.6485. s11356-013-2406-2.
Liu, S., Forrest, J.Y.L., 2010. Grey Systems: Theory and Applications. Springer Shafiei, S., Salim, R.A., 2014. Non-renewable and renewable energy consumption
Science & Business Media. and CO2 emissions in OECD countries: A comparative analysis. Energy Policy
Liu, D., Guo, X., Xiao, B., 2019. What causes growth of global greenhouse gas 66, 547–556. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2013.10.064.
emissions? Evidence from 40 countries. Sci. Total Environ. 661, 750–766. Shahbaz, M., Khan, S., Tahir, M.I., 2013. The dynamic links between energy
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.01.197. consumption, economic growth, financial development and trade in China:
Liu, S., Yang, Y., 2017. Explanation of terms of grey forecasting models. Grey Syst. Fresh evidence from multivariate framework analysis. Energy Econ. 40, 8–21.
Theory Appl. 7 (1), 123–128. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/gs-11-2016-0047. Siddiqui, R., 2004. Energy and economic growth in Pakistan. Pak. Dev. Rev.
Liu, S., Yang, Y., Forrest, J., 2017a. Grey Data Analysis. Springer, pp. 978–981. http://dx.doi.org/10.30541/v43i2175--200.
Liu, S., Zhang, H., Yang, Y., 2017b. Explanation of terms of grey incidence analysis Sridhar, K.S., 2018. Urbanization and carbon emissions in India and
models. Grey Syst. Theory Appl.. China. Environ. Urban. ASIA 9 (2), 113–126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/
Mahmoudi, A., Feylizadeh, M.R., Darvishi, D., Liu, S., 2018. Grey-fuzzy solution 0975425318783544.
for multi-objective linear programming with interval coefficients. Grey Syst. Tabor, J., 2019. Using the grey-TOPSIS method to assess the functioning of the
Theory Appl. 8 (3), 312–327. http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/gs-01-2018-0007. occupational risk management. In: MATEC Web of Conferences, vol. 290, p.
Mahmoudi, A., Javed, S.A., Zhang, Z., Deng, X., 2019. Grey group QUALIFLEX 12027.
method: Application in project management, In: 2019 IEEE 14th Interna- Tenaw, D., Beyene, A.D., 2021. Environmental sustainability and economic devel-
tional Conference on Intelligent Systems and Knowledge Engineering, ISKE,
opment in sub-Saharan Africa: A modified EKC hypothesis. Renew. Sustain.
pp. 189–195.
Energy Rev. 143, 110897.
Marcotullio, P.J., Sarzynski, A., Albrecht, J., Schulz, N., 2012. The geography of
Tiwari, H., 2010. THE Enviorment Degradation and Its Consequences: Abundance
urban greenhouse gas emissions in Asia: A regional analysis. Glob. Environ.
and Scarcity.
Chang. 22 (4), 944–958. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2012.07.002.
UNDP, 2018. Development Advocate Pakistan: Sustainable Urbanization. Swiss
Mohsin, M., Abbas, Q., Zhang, J., Ikram, M., Iqbal, N., 2019. Integrated effect
Agency Dev. Coop., pp. 1–36.
of energy consumption, economic development, and population growth on
United Nations, 2019. United Nations World Population Prospects 2019. http:
CO2 based environmental degradation: A case of transport sector. Environ.
//dx.doi.org/10.1088/1751-8113/44/8/085201.
Sci. Pollut. Res. 26 (32), 32824–32835. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-019-
U.S. Energy, 2017. US energy information administration, international energy
06372-8.
outlook 2017 overview. In: Int. Energy Outlook, IEO2017, 2017. p. 143,
Mumtaz, A., Rehman, E., Rehman, S., Hussain, I., 2022. Impact of environmental
www.eia.gov/forecasts/ieo/pdf/0484(2016).pdf.
degradation on human health: An assessment using multicriteria decision
Vidyarthi, H., 2015. Energy consumption and growth in South Asia: Evidence
making. Front. Public Heal. 9, http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fpubh.2021.812743.
from a panel error correction model. Int. J. Energy Sect. Manag. http://dx.
Murshed, M., Ahmed, Z., Alam, M.S., Mahmood, H., Rehman, A., Dagar, V.,
doi.org/10.1108/IJESM-10-2013-0002.
2021. Reinvigorating the role of clean energy transition for achieving a
low-carbon economy: Evidence from Bangladesh. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. Wang, S.S., Zhou, D.Q., Zhou, P., Wang, Q.W., 2011. CO2 emissions, energy
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/S11356-021-15352-W. consumption and economic growth in China: A panel data analysis. Energy
Niu, S., Ding, Y., Niu, Y., Li, Y., Luo, G., 2011. Economic growth, energy Policy 39 (9), 4870–4875. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.ENPOL.2011.06.032.
conservation and emissions reduction: A comparative analysis based on Wei, J., Huang, K., Yang, S., Li, Y., Hu, T., Zhang, Y., 2017. Driving forces
panel data for 8 Asian-Pacific countries. Energy Policy 39 (4), 2121–2131. analysis of energy-related carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions in Beijing: An
Olivier, J.G.J., Muntean, M., Peters, J.A.H.W., 2015. Trends in Global CO2 Emissions input–output structural decomposition analysis. J. Clean. Prod. 163, 58–68.
2015 Report Background STUDIES Trends in Global CO2 Emissions: 2015 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2016.05.086.
Report Background Study. PBL Netherlands Environ. Assess. Agency Eur. Wei, W., Liang, J., 2019. Information fusion in rough set theory: An overview.
Comm. Jt. Res. Cent., pp. 1–78. Inf. Fusion 48, 107–118. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.inffus.2018.08.007.
Ozturk, I., Acaravci, A., 2013. The long-run and causal analysis of energy, growth, Wu, Q., Liu, Z., 2009. Real formal concept analysis based on grey-rough set
openness and financial development on carbon emissions in Turkey. Energy theory. Knowledge-Based Syst. 22 (1), 38–45. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.
Econ. 36, 262–267. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.ENECO.2012.08.025. knosys.2008.06.001.
Pao, H.-T., Tsai, C.-M., 2010. CO2 emissions, energy consumption and economic Xia, C., Wang, Z., 2020. The effect of fossil fuel and hydropower on carbon
growth in BRIC countries. Energy Policy 38 (12), 7850–7860. dioxide emissions: EKC validation with structural breaks. J. Environ. Eng.
Pata, U.K., 2018. Renewable energy consumption, urbanization, financial devel- Landsc. Manag. 28 (1), 36–47. http://dx.doi.org/10.3846/jeelm.2020.11832.
opment, income and CO2 emissions in Turkey: Testing EKC hypothesis with Xu, G., Schwarz, P., Yang, H., 2020. Adjusting energy consumption structure
structural breaks. J. Clean. Prod. 187, 770–779. to achieve China’s CO2 emissions peak. Renew. Sustain. Energy Rev. 122,
Pata, U.K., Caglar, A.E., 2021. Investigating the EKC hypothesis with renewable http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.RSER.2020.109737.
energy consumption, human capital, globalization and trade openness for Yang, J., et al., 2020. Driving forces of China’s CO2 emissions from energy
China: Evidence from augmented ARDL approach with a structural break. consumption based on Kaya-LMDI methods. Sci. Total Environ. 711, 134569.
Energy 216. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/J.SCITOTENV.2019.134569.
Prasad, D., 2015. Operation Research. Alpha Science International Limited. Yao, C., Feng, K., Hubacek, K., 1971. Driving forces of CO2 emissions in the G20
Rehman, E., Ikram, M., Feng, M.T., Rehman, S., 2020. Sectoral-based CO2 emis- countries: An index decomposition analysis from 1971 to 2010. Ecol. Inform.
sions of Pakistan: A novel grey relation analysis (GRA) approach. Environ. 26 (1), 93–100. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ecoinf.2014.02.003.
Sci. Pollut. Res. 27 (23), 29118–29129. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020- Yasmeen, H., Wang, Y., Zameer, H., Solangi, Y.A., 2020. Decomposing factors
09237-7. affecting CO2 emissions in Pakistan: Insights from LMDI decomposition
Rehman, E., Ikram, M., Rehman, S., Feng, M.T., 2021. Growing green? Sectoral- approach. Environ. Sci. Pollut. Res. 27 (3), 3113–3123. http://dx.doi.org/10.
based prediction of GHG emission in Pakistan: A novel NDGM and doubling 1007/s11356-019-07187-3.
time model approach. Environ. Dev. Sustain. 1–23. http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/ Yuan, C., Yang, Y., Chen, D., Liu, S., 2014. Proximity and similitude of sequences
s10668-020-01163-5. based on grey relational analysis. J. Grey Syst. 26 (4), 57–74, (Accessed 27
Rehman, M.U., Rashid, M., 2017. Energy consumption to environmental degra- July 2021).
dation, the growth appetite in SAARC nations. Renew. Energy http://dx.doi. Zeb, R., Salar, L., Awan, U., Zaman, K., Shahbaz, M., 2014. Causal links between
org/10.1016/j.renene.2017.03.100. renewable energy, environmental degradation and economic growth in
Rehman, S., Rehman, E., Mumtaz, A., Jianglin, Z., 2022. A multicriteria decision- selected SAARC countries: Progress towards green economy. Renew. Energy
making approach in exploring the nexus between wind and solar energy 71, 123–132. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2014.05.012.
generation, economic development, fossil fuel consumption, and CO2
emissions. Front. Environ. Sci. 9, 659. http://dx.doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2021.
819384.

5442