Environmental Degradation and Economic Growth in Nigeria: A Test of Environmental Kuznets Curve

The Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis is a presumption that environmental degradation follows an inverted U-shaped trajectory in relation to economic growth. The thorny question of whether economic growth could provide a cure to environmental degradation has sparked off a large body of empirical studies in the last decade. The conclusions have been mixed. This study contributes to the debate on the existence and empirical test of the EKC for Nigeria by applying Ordinary least Squares (OLS) method to annual time series data from 1970 to 2010. Using, gas flaring, energy production, oil spillage, population, life expectancy and CO2 emission per capita to proxy environmental degradation, our findings do not support the existence of the EKC hypothesis. Rather our results show that Nigeria’s situation, when confronted with data, is exemplified by a linear relationship. Given these findings, the responsibility of environmental conservation cannot be passively left to economic growth but rather deliberate efforts must be made to ensure a clean environment. This is possible by pursuing a vigorous environmental policy alongside economic development policy.

Keywords: Environmental Degradation, Economic Growth, Environmental Kuznets Curve, Nigeria