This study explores the symmetric and asymmetric effects of the shadow economy on clean energy and air pollution of South Asian countries over the period 1991–2019 The short-run ARDL findings for the clean energy model suggest that shadow economy increases clean energy consumption in Pakistan and Sri Lanka, whereas this effect is negative for India and insignificant for other countries The long-run results indicate the adverse impact only for India and the effects of tax revenue on clean energy are positively significant in Sri Lanka while negatively signiicant in Nepal and Bangladesh Institutional quality significantly increases clean energy in Pakistan, India, and Nepal However, in the case of Pakistan and Nepal, institutional quality deteriorated the environmental quality The results for the pollution model confer that shadow economy increases emissions in Pakistan, decreases in Bangladesh and Nepal, and has no effect in India and Sri Lanka The nonlinear ARDL results reveal that the positive components of the shadow economy significantly increase clean energy consumption only in Pakistan; however, the negative components of the shadow economy are negatively significant in all countries except Sri Lanka and Nepal However, the negative component of the informal sector of the economy reduces CO2 emissions in India and increases CO2 emissions in Bangladesh and Nepal The results offer important policy implications for achieving clean energy and better environmental quality in South Asian countries

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The shadow economy in South Asia: dynamic effects on clean energy consumption and environmental pollution.

Groundwater is the most important water resource, on which depends human geo-economic development and survival. Recent environmental changes and anthropogenic activities render groundwater severely vulnerable. Groundwater in Central Sindh, Pakistan, is facing a similar situation. Hydrogeochemical characteristics of the groundwater in the said region were investigated by analyzing 59 groundwater samples via agricultural and drinking indices, using various statistical methods and graphical approaches to identify factors affecting groundwater. Major reactions occurring in the groundwater system were quantified by hydrogeochemical modeling. A statistical summary reveals the abundance of cations is Na+ > Ca2+ > Mg2+ > K+, while the abundance of anions is HCO3− > Cl− > SO42. Groundwater chemistry is mainly of rock dominance. Correlation analysis and graphical relationships between ions reveal that ion exchange and rock weathering such as the dissolution of halite, albite, and dissolution of carbonate minerals are important rock–water interactions, governing the evolution of groundwater chemistry. Hydrochemical facies are predominantly of mixed CaMgCl and Na-Cl type, with few samples of Ca-HCO3 type, which constitutes fresh recharged water. Based on the Water Quality Index (WQI), 28.82% samples were found to be unsuitable for drinking. A United States Salinity Laboratory (USSL) diagram, Wilcox diagram, and other agricultural indices indicate that majority of the groundwater samples fall within the acceptable range for irrigation purposes.

https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/16/5/886/pdf

Hydrogeochemical Characterization and Suitability Assessment of Groundwater: A Case Study in Central Sindh, Pakistan.

Modern advances in nonlinear modeling have exposed that nonlinear models yield more robust results compared with linear models. Research on the effect of air-railway transportation on environmental pollution has now arrived into a new way of asymmetry analysis and captured the real issue among the nexus. This study aims to inspect the asymmetric impact of air-railway transportation on environmental pollution in Pakistan by using annual time series data from 1991 to 2019. The findings show that positive shock in air passenger carried and railway passenger carried increases carbon emissions, which implies that 1% increase in air passenger carried (railway passenger carried) enhances environmental pollution by 0.21% (0.32%) in long run in Pakistan. While positive shock in railway passengers carried increases environmental pollution and negative shock in railway passengers carried decreases the environmental pollution in the short run. The outcomes have also confirmed the short- and long-run asymmetries in Wald statistics. The findings are country-specific and it would be regionally specific.

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Pakistan management of green transportation and environmental pollution: a nonlinear ARDL analysis.

The ecological consequences of military spending is a hugely neglected area, and a veil of mystery surrounds this topic. The environmental threats posed by militaries remain insufficiently investigated in the name of national security. Prompted by the internal and external conflicts and prolonged military dictatorships, the Pakistani military assumes a role that goes beyond that of a traditional army. The current study addresses this significant gap in the literature by investigating the impacts of military spending on economic growth and the ecological footprint in Pakistan from 1971 to 2016 using the combined cointegration test and the bootstrap causality test. The findings of the study unveil a positive impact of military spending on the ecological footprint, while a negative impact on economic growth. The outcomes of the bootstrap causality test of Hacker and Hatemi-J (2012) highlight that economic growth Granger causes military spending, while causality runs from military spending to the ecological footprint. Energy consumption contributes to the ecological footprint and economic growth, whereas education expenditures do not influence economic growth and the environment in the long run. Further, the findings suggest a U-shaped link between GDP and footprint in Pakistan. The authorities should focus on resolving external and internal conflicts, on a priority basis, and reduce military spending to improve economic growth and the environment.

Analyzing the linkage between military spending, economic growth, and ecological footprint in Pakistan: evidence from cointegration and bootstrap causality.

The Regulatory Framework

We have human-environment relations inseparable since the creation of mankind. Being a developing country, Pakistan is striving to make developments in all the respective fields which alleviate our hot raising socio- economic issues. But beside the infrastructural and economic growth our environment is also getting polluted leaving behind several drastic and severe environmental crises and one of the adverse repercussions is environmental pollution. The extreme effects of environmental pollution cannot be neglected and through proper and genuine laws and policies implementations we can cope up such issues. This study reveals the history of environmental laws and policies and their implementations in Pakistan. Pakistan has a wide range of laws related to environment but the practice shows there is some problem which hinders to achieve the desired targets. This study mainly includes two main factors of pollution; water pollution and air pollution and their effects on population of Pakistan. Air pollution is top of the list for environmental protection agencies all over the world and same in Pakistan which is acting as a destructive bump for the economic growth of Pakistan. Moreover abruptly elevating health issues are one of the consequences of such factors of environmental pollution. This study also debates some survey of World Health Organization (WHO) and Health institute of USA about the number of people affected by these issues all over the world and in Pakistan. At the end there are concluding remarks concerning the environmental laws and policies in Pakistan, its implementation, current environmental situation with some suggestions and recommendations.

Xie Xiaoqing

Papers

An Analysis of Environmental Law in Pakistan-policy and Conditions of Implementation