Abstract:
CO2 emissions have been greatly criticized in literature for their limited scope, neglecting
the effects of other pollutants. Recent studies have increasingly focused on integrating the
effects of other pollutants by utilizing the load capacity factor. South Asia ranks among
the most polluted regions globally. The study objective explores the impact of economic
growth, foreign direct investment, trade openness, and clean technologies on the load
capacity curve. Further, to examine the relevance of the load capacity factor in the case of
South Asian economies. The study has also examined the parabolic effect of economic
growth. Panel unit root tests and quantile regression analysis have been employed between
2000 and 2022. Our results indicated that economic growth, foreign direct investment, and
trade openness have a positive relationship with the load capacity factor whereas access to
clean technologies has an inverse relationship with the load capacity factor. The study
confirms the presence of the load capacity factor in the case of South Asian countries. It
can be anticipated that South Asian countries can environmentally perform better with
higher levels of economic growth. Founded on empirical findings, the study recommends
that South Asian countries should focus on adopting green technologies and should include
environmental considerations while doing trade agreements.
