Do Land Resources, Agriculture Exports, and Agriculture Growth Induce Agriculture-Related Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Novel Findings in the Lens of COP–28

Abstract

Globally, economies are highly concerned about the balance between climatic issues and attaining agricultural sustainability. However, empirical evidence regarding the nexus of agricultural sustainability, emissions, land use, and agricultural trade is scarce and requires appropriate policy-level attention. The current study examines the influence of land-use resources, agricultural exports, and foreign direct investment on agriculture-related greenhouse gas emissions in Brazil. Using various time series diagnostic measures on quarterly data from 1990Q1 to 2020Q4 reveals non-normality and a mixed order of stationarity in variables. The autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) model and quantile ARDL approach are employed for comprehensive empirical analysis. The results assert that land resources and foreign investments are harmful to environmental sustainability, as they significantly enhance agricultural greenhouse gas emissions. Additionally, agricultural exports and green energy significantly contribute to emissions mitigation by tackling land-use and agricultural emissions in the short and long run. The results are robust across the ARDL and quantile regressions and pairwise granger causality. The study concludes that agricultural exports and land use are key factors inducing agricultural sustainability by inducing emissions. The study recommends increased spending on research and development, solar-based irrigation, and promotion of green energy projects. The study discusses novel findings and implications apropos land resources, foreign investments, agricultural exports, and emissions in the lens of COP 28.