Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
Black Sea Journal of Agriculture, cilt.9, sa.1, ss.122-131, 2026 (TRDizin)
The study examines the relationship between environmental sustainability and economic growth across countries and income levels by testing the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis using panel data methods. In the analysis, CO₂, agricultural CH4 and agricultural N20 emissions are used as dependent variables and three models are constructed based on various economic and agricultural indicators. The dataset covers broad country groups such as the Arab World, Euro Area, European Union, OECD, IBRD, and East Asia-Pacific, as well as low, middle and high income economies. Unit root tests show that most variables are stationary at level. Findings related to CO₂ emissions reveal that the classical inverted U shaped Environmental Kuznets Curve does not hold for any country group, instead U, N and inverted N shaped relationships emerge. By income level, low-income countries exhibit an N type curve, middle income countries an inverted N structure, and high income countries a U shaped pattern. This indicates that environmental pressures do not consistently decline with rising income but fluctuate depending on economic structure, energy policies and technical capacity. For agricultural CH4 emissions, only the European Union and Euro Area support the classical inverted U form, while U, N, and inverted N shaped structures appear in other regions. By income group, low income countries exhibit a U shaped curve, middle income countries an inverted N curve, and high income countries an inverted U structure. For agricultural N₂O emissions, the dominant curve type is N shaped across both country groups and income levels. Overall, the results demonstrate that environmental sustainability is determined less by income growth and more by structural transformation, environmental regulation, technological development, and sectoral characteristics. These findings highlight the necessity of country and income specific policy strategies instead of uniform global environmental policies.