Determining the Relationship between International Trade, Economic Growth, and CO₂ Emissions in the Philippines: An Econometric Analysis

Abstract

This paper studies the relationship between the Philippines’ imports and exports, GDP growth, and CO₂ emissions. The data was collected from the World Bank, and the method used for this study was multiple regression analysis using a number of 60 observations from 1962 to 2021. Results showed that from 1962 to 2002, economic growth had a significant relationship with CO₂ emissions. This means that as the economic growth increased, the CO₂ emissions also increased. However, the annual growth of exports and imports did not significantly impact the CO₂ emissions in the Philippines during this period. From 2003 to 2021, the annual growth of exports and imports showed a significant relationship between CO₂ emissions, while the economic growth showed an insignificant relationship between CO₂ emissions during this period. From this, the researchers concluded that the imports and exports of goods and services and economic growth significantly affect CO₂ emissions in the Philippines. It is also observed that the relationships between the variables can change throughout the years.