LAUSR

Poverty eradication and environmental degradation are the two crucial challenges, and they are highly interlinked in the modern era. However, countries are still more emphasized in attaining poverty alleviation and alleviating environmental pollution which require enormous attention. Our study is a novel attempt to scrutinize the effect of poverty on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions for India and China over the sample period 1987–2019. Findings attained from the ARDL model suggest that a rise in poverty contributes to growing CO2 emissions in India only in short run. Further, findings show that poverty is the principal source of pollution in the long term in India and China. Empirical results proposed focal policy implications in the light of sustainable development goals for India and China.