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Environmental movement in the Arab world

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Abstract

The paper conducts a comparative study across the Arab world in the Middle East and Africa to determine whether variations exist in environmental performance. Using various indicators of performance, including the 2010 environmental performance index and the total number of international environmental agreements signed, ratified, or accessed by individual governments, the paper concludes that the Arab world is at par with the developing world with its environmental performance. The paper empirically shows that economic well-being determines environmental performance, thus providing evidence to support the EKC-type hypothesis.

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Notes

  1. The Arab World is defined by the membership in the League of Arab States. There are 22 member countries in the League.

  2. Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates make up the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries (the GCC countries).

  3. Algeria, Egypt, Morocco, and Tunisia.

  4. Djibouti, Mauritania, Somalia and Sudan.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Deptartment of Economics, School of Business, Lebanese American University, P. O. Box 36, Byblos, Lebanon

    Salpie Djoundourian

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  1. Salpie Djoundourian
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Correspondence to Salpie Djoundourian.

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Readers should send their comments on this paper to BhaskarNath@aol.com within 3 months of publication of this issue.

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Djoundourian, S. Environmental movement in the Arab world. Environ Dev Sustain 13, 743–758 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-011-9287-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10668-011-9287-7

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