Basket of environmental (de)merits of the BRICS and eBRICS states

Purpose – With the expansion of Brazil, Russia Federation, India, China and South Africa (BRICS) countries, i.e. extending membership to Egypt, Ethiopia, Iran, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates to now extended BRICS (eBRICS), there are concerns about how the basket of environmental merits and demerits of the BRICS and that of the new entrants would be inherited by the now eBRICS. Design/methodology/approach – Therefore, this study focuses on environmental sustainability to compare the circumstantial drivers of carbon emission for BRICS and eBRICS over the period 1995 to 2021. Findings – By using an econometric approach, the results show that only primary energy usage causes the surge of carbon emission (by elasticity of 1.06) in the BRICS panel, but consumption of primary energy alongside economic growth and rent from natural resources increases carbon emission in the entire eBRICS panel by respective elasticities of 0.72, 0.21 and 0.07. Furthermore, from the panel perspective, the trade factor, which is a critical and unifying policy statement of BRICS and/or eBRICS does not have a significant effect on environmental quality. However, the outcomes indicate vital country-specific policy insight. For instance, Ethiopia and the United Arab Emirates demonstrate similar pattern of response of carbon emission to all the examined factors and presumably influencing the contribution of rents from natural resources to environmental quality in China, India and South Africa. Originality/value – For overall policy insight, while encouraging member countries of eBRICS to make more pragmatic nationally determined contributions, trade activities would need to be more environmentally harnessed through climate change mitigation and adaptation measures by the member countries.