What Accounts for the Growth of CO2 Emissions in the Philippines? The Role of the Three Major Industries – Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing, Industry, and Service Sector

Abstract

This paper investigates the relationship between the GDP of the Three-Major Industries - Agriculture, Hunting, Forestry and Fishing (AHFF), Industry, and Service sector and the Carbon Dioxide (CO2) emissions of the Philippines from 1988-2020, applying the Multiple Linear Regression model. The study looks into the aggregation of the gross value added of the resident producer units in the country and not in the disaggregation of industries by sub-sectors. Empirical results from the model show that the GDP of the Industry sector is positively significant to CO2 emissions and disprove the hypothesis that there is no relationship between the variables. While the GDP of AHFF and the Service sector show a positive insignificant relationship to CO2 emissions, highlighting that it still contributes to greenhouse gas emissions but not to the same degree as the industry sector due to variations in production processes and energy requirements. In the same paper, carbon reduction proposals related to industry incentivization, and subsidization are recommended for addressing the increasing levels of Carbon Dioxide in the country and assisting the industries transition to a more greener production practices that satisfies the parameters of sustainability.