Fossil Energy Consumption, Carbon Dioxide Emissions and Adult Mortality Rate in Nigeria

Abstract

The health implications of fossil energy consumption and carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions remain a global concern. This study examines the effectof fossil energy consumption and CO2 emissions on adult mortality rate inNigeria. The study relies on the Health Production Function and utilisesthe Autoregressive Distributed Lag technique to analyse time series datafrom 1980 to 2019. The results of the estimated model show that fossil energyconsumption reduces adult mortality rates in the short run, while co2emissions increase adult mortality rates both in the short and long run.In addition, government health expenditure follows an inverted U-shaperelationship in explaining adult mortality while foreign direct investmenthas a U-shape relationship with adult mortality in Nigeria. Trade opennessand monetary policy are insignificant in the short and long run. Itis recommended that the government should substitute clean energy forfossil fuel energy to improve the quality of life, strengthen CO2 emissionstax and ensure health funds are used for the improvement of healthcareservice delivery in Nigeria.