Recent analytical tools to mitigate carbon-based pollution: New insights by using wavelet coherence for a sustainable environment

Anthropogenic activities are a ubiquitous source of carbon-based pollution. A sustainable environment is endangered due to inefficiently regulated pollution policies, and the rise in world population further enhances the severity of this formidable challenge. This study has investigated the impact of the annual CO₂ emissions in Pakistan on electricity production from different sectors, GDP, and the population by focusing on the control of carbon-based pollution. This research study intends to fill the gap in previous studies by providing significant measures to link the control of carbon-based pollution, increased GDP, and Pakistan's population, using data from 1990 to 2020. A set of 15 variables are mainly used to investigate all of these relations. Carbon pollution drastically impacts both the external and internal environment. The graphical analysis undertaken in this study finds an upward trend and significant positive correlation among the variables. It demonstrates that Pakistan shows minimal contribution in CO₂ emission compared to other Asian economies, but in recent decades, an increasing growth rate has been noticeable and needs to be controlled. The ECM and ARDL approaches confirm that all the variables positively affect CO₂ emission both in the long- and short-term, except for electricity production from gas and hydro in the long term, which shows negative relation. The long-term shifts also indicate that high CO₂ emissions can be recovered from by adjusting these variables. The study also suggests that the government should convert high carbon use to low carbon energy use to control CO₂ emissions in Pakistan.