Q52 - Pollution Control Adoption and Costs; Distributional Effects; Employment EffectsReturn

This study explores the interplay among political factors, environmental pollution and sustainable development in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). Drawing on an evaluation of the literature and empirical data, the study highlights the effect of political instability, corruption and weak governance on environmental degradation and sustainable development. The study applies the pooled ordinary least squares and the fixed effects; besides, to account for possible problems of endogeneity, the generalised method of moments (GMM) is utilized. The results show that environmental pollution worsens sustainable development, while political factors improve sustainable development. These outcomes imply that political factors are necessary to promote sustainable development because political factors allow definition of rules to protect the environment. Finally, the study proposes a policy aimed at promoting sustainable development, including strengthening environmental regulations, promoting renewable energy sources and encouraging public-private partnerships for sustainable development.