Government budget transparency and climate change: role of media freedom in Africa

Purpose The study examines the effect of government budget transparency on climate change in Africa. The specific aims of the study are to examine the direct, threshold and indirect effects of budget transparency through media freedom within Africa. Design/methodology/approach Due to the different hypotheses tested, this study adopted different estimation strategies. The study employs the System Generalized Method of Moments to investigate the direct effect of budget transparency and the moderation role of media freedom on climate change. The threshold effect of budget transparency was ascertained using the dynamic panel threshold model by (Seo et al., 2019). The study adopts a quantitative research approach to collect and analyze data from 2000 to 2023 across 54 African economies. Findings The study finds that open transparency, budget oversight and public participation negatively influence climate change in the short run. Also, there is a U-shaped tendency in the budget transparency and climate action. The study finds evidence that high-quality media freedom moderates the impact of budget transparency on climate change relative to a low level of media freedom. The study concludes that there is a threshold level of 91.18 beyond which budget transparency could promote climate change. Overall, the findings indicate that fiscal transparency is more crucial for climate action in Africa compared to public participation. Originality/value To the best knowledge of the authors, this study is the first to investigate the direct, indirect and threshold relationships between budget transparency and climate change, particularly in Africa.