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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1513158
This article is part of the Research Topic Advancing Carbon Reduction and Pollution Control Policies Management: Theoretical, Application, and Future Impacts View all 31 articles
Analyzing the impact of economic growth and FDI on sustainable development goals in China: insights from ecological footprints and load capacity factors
Provisionally accepted- 1 Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University, Ankara, Türkiye
- 2 Bingöl University, Bingöl, Bingöl, Türkiye
- 3 Artvin Coruh University, Artvin, Artvin, Türkiye
- 4 Tarsus University, Mersin, Mersin, Türkiye
This study investigates the impact of economic growth and foreign direct investment (FDI) on China's sustainable development goals (SDGs), specifically Zero Hunger (SDG 2), Life Below Water (SDG 14), and Life on Land (SDG 15). It examines ecological footprints and load capacity factors in cropland, fishing, forest, and grazing land using Fourier Bootstrap ARDL Cointegration Analysis and FMOLS estimators. The study covers the period from 1979 to 2022. Key findings reveal that while GDP and FDI often exacerbate environmental degradation, urbanization and value-added agriculture, forestry, and fishing (FAFGDP) improve sustainability in some areas. The study confirms the pollution haven hypothesis for most models, suggesting that China's legal and regulatory frameworks may inadequately mitigate FDI's adverse environmental effects. The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is not supported, as GDP growth generally increases ecological footprints. However, trade openness and urbanization show positive influences on environmental sustainability. Policy recommendations include enhancing energy efficiency, promoting renewable energy, implementing green technologies in agriculture and urban development, and revising FDI policies to incentivize environmentally friendly practices. These strategies are crucial for achieving China's sustainable development goals and mitigating the pressures of human activities on natural resources.
Keywords: ecological footprints, Environmental kuznets curve, Foreign direct investment, Load Capacity Factors, Sustainable development goals, energy economics, economic growth
Received: 17 Oct 2024; Accepted: 03 Feb 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Güler, Naimoğlu, Şimşek, Adalı and Özbek. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence:
İlkay Güler, Ankara Haci Bayram Veli University, Ankara, Türkiye
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