Özet:

This paper empirically investigates the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis validation for GHGs emissions over the period 1980-2010 in Saudi Arabia. It examines the relationship between economic growth and environmental quality by using the Ordinary Least Squares (OLS) regression for two types of GHGs namely: CO2 emissions and other GHG emissions (HFC, PFC and SF6); the gases in brackets are termed other GHG emissions for ease of discussion in this study. The results showed that the EKC hypothesis is not valid for either CO2 emissions or other GHG emissions in Saudi Arabia. Even though there is an inverted U-shape for both models, the turning point is very high compared with GDP in that period. Thus, Saudi Arabia needs to implement new policies by adopting new technologies that could support the technical effect, which contributes to improving the environmental quality or raising the current source efficiency, in order to achieve sustainable development in the future. Key Words: CO2 Emissions, Other GHG Emissions, EKC, OLS Regression, Turning Point.

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