Abstract
Many countries encounter environmental imbalance where the ecological footprint is higher than biocapacity due to natural resource-induced economic growth. This paper focuses on Saudi Arabia, a prominent oil exporter, to assess the dynamic impact of oil extraction on ecological footprint and biocapacity by applying the quantile on quantile (QQ) approach. This empirical investigation demonstrates that a higher quantile of oil extraction is negatively associated with a lower quantile of ecological footprint; conversely, a lower quantile of oil extraction and a higher quantile of ecological footprint are positively associated. Additionally, a lower quantile of oil extraction and lower quantile of biocapacity are negatively associated. The empirical analysis confirms that oil extraction is somewhat less responsible higher score of ecological footprint due to efficient management in oil extraction and refinery process. Several policy implications of these findings are highlighted.
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This project was funded by King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, and King Abdullah City for Atomic and Renewable Energy, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, under grant no. (KCR-KFL-06-20). Therefore, the author gratefully acknowledges their technical and financial support.
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Samargandi, N. Oil exploration, biocapacity, and ecological footprint in Saudi Arabia. Environ Sci Pollut Res 28, 54621–54629 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14354-y
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14354-y