Unveiling the Environmental–Economic Nexus: Cointegration and Causality Analysis of Air Pollution and Growth in Oman

Round 1

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The intricate relationship between environmental degradation, specifically air pollution, and economic growth of one region is an important issue to investigate. The data indicated that economic growth and energy consumption had connections with greenhouse gases emissions. It is suggested that the current manuscript could be accepted after a major revision.

Following points should be concerned.

It is suggested that the key words should be added, to represent the major topic of the whole story.

It is suggested that the figures should be enlarged and in higher resolution, which could result in a better printing quality.

It is suggested that the tables showing the data or contents in an uniform manner. The current tables showed different formats.

For the models (formulas), it is necessary to introduce the meanings of each variable, which is now missing. Please add this part.

It is suggested that some literature could be compared with the current data in the discussion section.

Comments on the Quality of English Language

It is suggested that use the third person during the narrative, instead of the first-person in some places.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The article addresses a topic of great interest - the relationship between air pollution and economic growth in the last 30 years. In the first part, the causes of greenhouse gas emissions in Oman as well as the causes of air pollution are highlighted. To demonstrate the proposed hypotheses, different econometric techniques are used, as well as cointegration tests when it is desired to evaluate the long-term dynamics of the variables considered.

I have a few little recommendations, which are as follows:

The authors state that efforts are being made in Oman to diversify energy sources and reduce pollution sources (lines 22-23 and 140-141). Concretely, what would these green energy development directions be? Currently, the data shows that 99% of the electricity produced in Oman is based on natural gas and 0.43% solar (https://ourworldindata.org/electricity-mix)

Section 3 must be revised and developed (Model Specification and Data). It is treated very expeditiously compared to the rest of the article, although it is of the upmost importance for understanding the results.

The Results and Discussion chapter is quite difficult to understand. The authors attach great importance to the application of econometric models and less to the results obtained, so that the objectives proposed at the beginning of the article can be demonstrated at the end.

References must be reviewed and adapted to the requirements of the Sustainability journal.

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Reviewer 4 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

Please see attached my comments. 

Comments for author File: Comments.pdf

Author Response

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Author Response File: Author Response.pdf

Round 2

Reviewer 1 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

The authors have made major revisions and rewrote some sections according to the reviewers' suggestions. It is suggested that the manuscript could be accepted if no other comments are against.

Reviewer 2 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

All the reviewers' observations were carefully considered and the work was modified according to the indications.

I consider that the paper can be published in this form.

Reviewer 3 Report

Comments and Suggestions for Authors

N/A