Testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis: The Dynamic Impact of Nuclear Energy on Environmental Sustainability in the context of Economic Globalization

In the context of global energy conservation and emission reduction, emerging markets and developing countries, especially the BRICS countries (Brazil, China, India, Russia, South Africa) are faced with both achieving sustainable economic and environmental development and improving energy use efficiency to facilitate the implementation of carbon reduction strategies. After the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic, the BRICS countries have maintained good cooperation momentum in the economic, trade and energy sectors, making important contributions to promoting global environmental governance and fostering global economic recovery and high-quality sustainable development. As representatives of emerging markets and developing countries, BRICS countries effectively play the role of “stabilizer” and “gas pedal” of development in the global economy and carbon peaking and carbon neutrality strategy. Therefore, this study examines the impact of nuclear energy consumption on environmental sustainability in the context of economic globalization using annual data for the BRICS countries for the period 1985-2020. These data include GDP per capita in constant 2010 dollars (GDP), carbon dioxide emissions per capita in metric tons (CO2), nuclear energy consumption as a percentage of primary energy (NE), renewable energy consumption as a percentage of primary energy (RE), population per square kilometer of land area (POP), urban population as a percentage of total population (URB), and the KOF Switzerland The Globalization Index (EGL) developed by the Economic Society of Switzerland. The data was obtained from the World Bank, Global Carbon Project, BP Statistical Review of World Energy (2021), International Energy Agency (IEA) and KOF Index.在全球节能减排的时代背景下，新兴市场与发展中经济体，尤其是金砖国家（BRICS，成员国为巴西、中国、印度、俄罗斯、南非），同时面临着实现经济与环境可持续发展、提升能源利用效率以助力碳减排战略落地的双重任务。新冠疫情暴发后，金砖国家在经济、贸易与能源领域保持了良好的合作态势，为推动全球环境治理、促进世界经济复苏与高质量可持续发展作出了重要贡献。作为新兴市场与发展中经济体的代表，金砖国家在全球经济格局以及碳达峰、碳中和战略中，切实发挥了发展的"稳定器"与"助推器"作用。有鉴于此，本研究采用1985-2020年金砖国家的年度数据，探究经济全球化背景下核能消费对环境可持续性的影响效应。本次研究涵盖的数据集包含以下指标：以2010年不变价美元计的人均GDP（GDP）、人均二氧化碳排放量（单位：公吨，CO₂）、核能消费占一次能源消费的比重（NE）、可再生能源消费占一次能源消费的比重（RE）、每平方公里土地承载的人口数（POP）、城镇人口占总人口的比重（URB），以及瑞士经济学会研发的KOF全球化指数（EGL）。本研究数据来源于世界银行、全球碳计划（Global Carbon Project）、《BP世界能源统计年鉴2021》、国际能源署（International Energy Agency, IEA）以及KOF全球化指数数据库。