Nexus between Economy, Energy, Agriculture, and Environment: Empirical Evidence from Bangladesh

Balancing economic growth with environmental sustainability remains a critical challenge for developing economies such as Bangladesh. This study investigates the dynamic nexus among economic growth, renewable energy consumption (REN), energy efficiency, natural resources, agricultural value added, and CO 2 emissions over the period 1990–2023. Using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) bounds testing approach, the analysis explores both long-run equilibrium relationships and short-run adjustment dynamics, complemented by fully modified ordinary least Squares (FMOLS), dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS), and canonical cointegrating regression (CCR) robustness estimators. The results confirm the existence of cointegration among the variables. In the long run, REN and natural resources contribute to emission reduction, while economic growth and agricultural value added increase CO 2 emissions. Energy efficiency exhibits a short-run mitigating effect but a long-run rebound effect, indicating structural complexities in Bangladesh’s energy transition. The error correction mechanism demonstrates rapid adjustment toward long-run equilibrium following short-term shocks. Overall, the findings suggest that Bangladesh remains in the rising phase of the environmental Kuznets curve, where economic expansion continues to exert pressure on environmental quality. The study highlights the necessity of integrated green growth policies that simultaneously promote renewable energy expansion, sustainable agricultural practices, improved resource governance, and carefully designed efficiency measures to achieve long-term decarbonization. These results provide updated empirical evidence to support Bangladesh’s transition toward a low-carbon and sustainable development pathway.