The detrimental effects of carbon dioxide emissions (CO2) and ecological footprint (EF) on the ecosystems, climate change and global warming necessitate the adoption of various methods to ameliorate them. An insight into the root causes of CO2 and EF is fundamental for policy decisions on environmental sustainability. Though some scholars have shown some drivers of CO2 and EF, the non-linear and moderating impacts of financial development (FIN) and urbanization (URB) in degrading the environment in Africa has not been thoroughly investigated. Consequently, the purpose of this research is to examine the non-linear roles of FIN and URB in degrading the environment with emphasis on CO2 and EF in a sample of 31 African nations. It also determines the roles of FIN and URB in moderating the environment-energy nexus It utilizes empirical techniques that accommodate cross-sectional dependency, endogeneity and heterogeneity. The main results indicate that URB has an inverted U-shaped effect on CO2 while FIN has a tenuous U-shaped impact. URB and EF have a U-shaped relationship albeit FIN has a tenuous non-linear impact on EF. Besides, URB plays a mitigating role in the connection between CO2 and energy use whereas FIN plays a detrimental role. Further analysis indicates that FIN cannot moderate the nexus between energy use and EF albeit URB does aggravates the relationship. This research underscores the roles of FIN and URB on the environment in Africa. It notes that the proxy used to measure environmental degradation matters in considering the roles of FIN and URB on environment. As a result, the environmental regulations and energy policies that ignore the roles of URB and FIN may impede the pursuit of sustainable environment and development.

中文翻译：

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金融发展和城市化在非洲环境退化中的作用：揭示非线性和调节性影响

二氧化碳排放（CO2）和生态足迹（EF）对生态系统、气候变化和全球变暖的不利影响需要采取各种方法来改善。深入了解 CO2 和 EF 的根本原因对于环境可持续性政策决策至关重要。尽管一些学者已经揭示了二氧化碳和EF的一些驱动因素，但金融发展（FIN）和城市化（URB）对非洲环境退化的非线性和调节影响尚未得到彻底研究。因此，本研究的目的是在 31 个非洲国家的样本中考察 FIN 和 URB 在环境退化方面的非线性作用，重点关注 CO2 和 EF。它还确定了 FIN 和 URB 在调节环境与能源关系中的作用。它利用适应横截面依赖性、内生性和异质性的经验技术。主要结果表明，URB 对 CO2 具有倒 U 形影响，而 FIN 对 CO2 具有微弱的 U 形影响。 URB 和 EF 具有 U 形关系，尽管 FIN 对 EF 具有微弱的非线性影响。此外，URB 在 CO2 和能源使用之间的联系中发挥着缓解作用，而 FIN 则发挥着有害作用。进一步的分析表明，FIN 不能调节能源使用和 EF 之间的关系，尽管 URB 确实加剧了这种关系。这项研究强调了 FIN 和 URB 对非洲环境的作用。它指出，在考虑 FIN 和 URB 对环境的作用时，用于衡量环境退化的替代指标很重要。因此，忽视URB和FIN作用的环境法规和能源政策可能会阻碍对可持续环境和发展的追求。