A study of the environmental Kuznets curve for transport greenhouse gas emissions in the European Union

Abstract

In view of the European Union as one of the main polluters in the word and the fact that GDP per capita in the European Union is equivalent to the 282 percent of the world`s average, it is interesting to study the relationship between transport GHG emissions and the economic activity within the European Union. In the paper, the authors check the environment Kuznets curve hypothesis for members of the EU over the period 2000-2014. The analysis results show that an inverse-U relationship exists between transport GHG emissions and GDP per capita. At the same time, the results indicate that the change of economic structure has influenced the transport GHG emissions in the developed countries, that is, in the countries that record a higher level of GDP per capita.