Climate Change-Urbanization Nexus: Exploring the Contribution of Urbanization on Carbon Emissions in East Africa

It is perceived that east Africa, like the rest of the continent, is only a victim than a contributor of climate change, a perception that motivated this study that explores the contribution of urbanization on carbon emissivity in the east African region. We used panel data for selected countries in the region and conducted analysis on the urbanization-carbon emissions models that determines the presence of an Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis. Parametric and semi-parametric fixed-effects models analyses were also executed and results compared. Our results strikingly reveal that urbanization and economic growth are responsible for continued environmental deterioration in the region. We recommend future studies to focus on urbanization and how countries in the region can grow without necessarily impairing the environment.