The main factors behind Cameroon’s CO₂ emissions before, during and after the economic crisis of the 1980s

An extended Kaya identity and the Logarithm Mean Divisia Index approach were applied in this paper to identify, quantify and explain the main factors behind Cameroon’s CO₂ emissions before, during and after the economic crisis of the years 1980. The analyses covered the period from 1971 to 2014 and the results showed that: (1) Cameroon’s carbon intensity increased by 75 and 47% during the periods before (1971–1984) and after (1984–1994) the economic crisis, while it decreased significantly by − 135% during the crisis period (1994–2014). At the same time, the country’s emission factor increased by 30% between 2007 and 2014. (2) The effect of the demographic change was the main driver of Cameroon’s CO₂ emissions during the periods 1984–1994 and 1994–2014, whereas the effect of economic activity was the main driver of the increase in these emissions between 1971 and 1984. (3) The energy intensity effect contributed to the increase in CO₂ emissions during the period 1984–1994 in the same way as the effect of demographic change. However, this factor helped reduce CO₂ emissions in the other two periods. (4) Although the effect of substitution of fossil fuels and the effect of renewable energy all contributed to reducing CO₂ emissions during the period of this study, we found that the effect of renewable energy behind CO₂ emissions remains insignificant compared to the renewable energy potential available in Cameroon. Finally, policy recommendations aimed at enabling Cameroon to achieve its objectives of reducing CO₂ emissions were formulated in this article.