How different levels of education affect individuals’ attitudes and actions toward carbon neutrality? A novel quantile-on-quantile regression approach

Abstract

Carbon neutrality in the post-COP26 summit becomes a key goal in the fight against climate change, and the sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly SDG4, acknowledge the crucial role of education in enhancing both the environment and individual well-being and as a pathway towards attaining other SDGs. Therefore, this paper examines how individuals’ educational levels affect their behavior for realizing carbon neutrality within the environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) framework while employing green energy, green finance, and natural resources as additional variables in the study model. This study utilizes robust econometric techniques to ensure accurate and reliable results, employing data from Ghana from 1990 to 2020. The results confirm that the study variables exhibit stationarity and long-term co-integration. Thus, the novel quantile-on-quantile regression (QQR) technique is utilized to analyze the variables’ relationships evolving throughout various quantile levels so as to offer a more nuanced understanding. The results reveal that secondary and tertiary education are beneficial for achieving carbon neutrality, but primary education alone is insufficient. Moreover, the findings demonstrate that green energy and green finance support the realization of carbon neutrality, while natural resources hinder carbon neutrality realization. Furthermore, the study validates the EKC hypothesis in Ghana. Ultimately, it recommends that authorities invest and prioritize the expansion and quality improvement of secondary and tertiary education in Ghana to accelerate the nation's journey towards carbon neutrality, with due recognition of the need to supplement primary education with a robust higher education system focused on sustainability and environmental studies.