Foreign direct investment (FDI) and the consumption of non-renewable energy have been on the increase in the coastal Mediterranean countries (CMCs) over the last few decades. Both trigger growth, but the environmental impact could be far-reaching as environmental distortions are mainly human-induced. This study examines the environmental issues facing CMCs. Specifically, we investigate whether the pollution haven hypothesis holds for CMCs. We employ a quantile panel data analysis for CMCs to account for heterogeneity and distributional effects of socioeconomic factors. The result reveals that the influence of FDI on environmental degradation is a function of the indicators utilized and also depends on the initial levels of environmental degradation. The results suggest that the pollution haven hypothesis does not hold for CMCs. However, we also find that energy consumption significantly increases environmental degradation for all indicators and across the observed quantiles. The effects of economic growth and urbanization on the environment were mixed for the different indicators and across quantiles. We recommend that it is pertinent for CMCs to limit their “dirty” energy sources and substitute them with renewables to promote environmental sustainability.

在过去的几十年里，地中海沿岸国家 (CMC) 的外国直接投资 (FDI) 和不可再生能源的消费一直在增加。两者都会引发增长，但环境影响可能是深远的，因为环境扭曲主要是人为造成的。本研究探讨了 CMC 面临的环境问题。具体来说，我们调查污染避风港假设是否适用于 CMC。我们对 CMC 使用分位数面板数据分析来解释社会经济因素的异质性和分布影响。结果表明，FDI 对环境退化的影响是所用指标的函数，也取决于环境退化的初始水平。结果表明，污染避风港假说不适用于 CMC。然而，我们还发现，能源消耗显着增加了所有指标和观察到的分位数的环境退化。经济增长和城市化对环境的影响在不同的指标和分位数上是混合的。我们建议 CMC 限制其“肮脏”能源并用可再生能源替代它们以促进环境可持续性。