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. 2023 May;30(22):62341-62354.
doi: 10.1007/s11356-023-26463-x. Epub 2023 Mar 20.

Sustainable development goals perspective: nexus between Christians' religious tourism, geopolitical risk, and CO2 pollution in Italy

Muhammad Zahid Nawaz  1 , Jinguang Guo  2 , Shahid Nawaz  3 , Sadam Hussain  4
Affiliations

Sustainable development goals perspective: nexus between Christians' religious tourism, geopolitical risk, and CO2 pollution in Italy

Muhammad Zahid Nawaz et al. Environ Sci Pollut Res Int. 2023 May.

Abstract

Travel and tourism support a country's economy and improve its social outlook. The religious inclination is an important factor influencing tourism and constitutes a significant part of general tourism. Thus, assessing and evaluating its real impacts on a country is crucial. As the world continues to grapple with the effects of environmental degradation, numerous studies have delved into the research between tourism, energy consumption, and pollution emissions. However, the impact of religious tourism on the environment is often overlooked. To bridge this gap, this study explores the relationship between religious tourist arrivals, geopolitical risk, and environmental quality in Italy. By employing ARDL and wavelets coherence analysis on the Italian data from 1997 to 2019, the findings of this study reveal a mitigation effect of religious tourist arrivals and geopolitical risk on CO2 pollution levels. In contrast, it highlights the significance of foreign direct investment and transportation as significant contributors to CO2 pollution. In conclusion, the study highlights the crucial role that religious tourism and religious leaders can play in mitigating environmental pollution and the importance of considering this aspect in future environmental studies as well as emphasize the need for Italian authorities to pay close attention to the impact of foreign direct investment and transportation energy consumption on the environment to achieve sustainable development goals.

Keywords: ARDL; CO2 pollution; Geopolitical risk; Religious tourism; Wavelet coherence.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
CUSUM and CUSUMSq test results
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
CO2-Religious tourism and CO2-Geopolitical risk wavelets results
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
CO2 –foreign direct investment and CO2–transportation energy consumption wavelets results
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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