Sectoral-based CO2 emissions of Pakistan: a novel Grey Relation Analysis (GRA) approach

Global warming regarded as the major global issue over the past few decades, whereas carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions have been cited as one of the main causes of this problem. Therefore, this study aims to investigate the effect of energy consumption, economic development, and population growth on high CO 2 emitting sectors of Pakistan such as transportation, industrial, and household. The data used in this study was taken from multiple databases from 2000 to 2018. We employed novel grey relational analysis (GRA) models to assess the connection between gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, population, energy consumption, and CO 2 emission. Furthermore, the Hurwicz method was used to analyze which factor contributing more to CO 2 emission. Result reveals that CO 2 emission, gross domestic product per capita, population, and energy consumption showed a strong association among all sectors. Whereas, population contributes more to intensifying CO 2 emissions in the transportation sector of Pakistan. This study provides useful insights for policymakers to take preventive and corrective measures to overcome CO 2 emissions as well as sustainable development.