Sustainable development has recently attracted growing attention on behalf of scientists and policymakers. One of the main pillars to achieve sustainable development goals is decidedly linked to the environment. This paper contributes to the existing literature by shedding light on the determinants of environmental degradation in Gulf ‎Cooperation Council countries between 1980 and 2017. More specifically, the effects of per capita ‎GDP, energy consumption, urbanization, international trade and foreign direct investments on CO2 ‎emissions are investigated. Using the Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population, Affluence, ‎and Technology (STIRPAT) model and the PMG-ARDL approach, findings suggest the validity of ‎the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis in GCC countries. Moreover, the income threshold ‎level is equal to US$56,350.928. It has been also revealed that energy consumption and foreign ‎direct investments led to more environmental degradation in the long run, while urbanization has a ‎positive impact on the environment. In the short-run, results show the validity of the Pollution Halo ‎Hypothesis, since more foreign direct investments flows have been associated with less ‎environmental pollution. Finally, while the estimation of country-specific error correction models ‎reveals the heterogeneity of results, the most important factor affecting the environment in the short-run is energy ‎consumption. The impact of international trade and foreign direct investment is mixed, while ‎urbanization has no significant impact. In the light of these findings, some policy recommendations ‎are designed.

可持续发展最近已代表科学家和政策制定者引起了越来越多的关注。实现可持续发展目标的主要支柱之一与环境紧密相关。本文通过阐明1980到2017年之间海湾合作委员会国家环境退化的决定因素，为现有文献做出了贡献。更具体地说，人均GDP，能源消耗，城市化，国际贸易和外国直接投资对对二氧化碳的排放进行了调查。使用回归分析对人口，富裕度和技术的随机影响（STIRPAT）模型和PMG-ARDL方法，研究结果表明，海湾合作委员会国家环境库兹涅茨曲线假说的有效性。此外，收入起征点为￥ 56,350.928。从长远来看，能源消耗和外国直接投资导致更多的环境恶化，而城市化对环境有积极影响。短期而言，结果表明污染晕假说的有效性，因为更多的外国直接投资流量与更少的环境污染有关。最后，虽然特定国家/地区的纠错模型的估计揭示了结果的异质性，但短期内影响环境的最重要因素是能源消耗。国际贸易和外国直接投资的影响喜忧参半，而城市化并没有重大影响。根据这些发现，设计了一些政策建议。