ABSTRACT This study examines how changes in arable land, grazing land, and forest area influence environmental quality in Pakistan and their implications for achieving sustainable development goals (SDGs) 11, 13, and 15. Using annual data from 1990 to 2021 and an autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) framework, the study estimates the short and long‐run effects of land‐use change on carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emissions. The findings show that forest area significantly reduces CO 2 emissions: a 1% increase in forest area decreases emissions by 25.98% in the short run and 17.10% in the long run. In contrast, grazing land increases emissions, with a 1% increase raising CO 2 emissions by 1.55% in the short run and 1.02% in the long run. Arable land is associated with lower emissions, as a 1% increase reduces CO 2 emissions by 2.26% in the short run and 1.49% in the long run. These results highlight the importance of land‐use management for climate mitigation, ecosystem protection, and sustainable urban development in Pakistan. The study therefore underscores the need for policies that promote afforestation, regulated grazing, and sustainable agricultural land management to advance national sustainability commitments. Further these findings suggest that sustainable land management strategies, such as reforestation and efficient agricultural land use, can help mitigate CO 2 emissions and advance the achievement of SDGs.
Fahad et al. (Thu,) studied this question.