The environmental stress due to massive CO emissions is a critical issue for scholars and policymakers. Many studies have discussed various determinants of environmental pollution both from theoretical and empirical perspectives. However, how governance influences the nexus between economic growth and CO emissions is rarely studied. Hence this study investigates the relationship between economic growth, governance and CO emissions within the framework of the Environmental Kuznets Curve for five high CO emission countries over 1996-2017. Empirical results from the panel data estimation methods reflect that measures of governance influence emission levels differently in high CO emission countries. Overall, political, economic and institutional governance enhance environmental quality. According to the results, provision of good governance needs to exercise effective measures to enhance and protect environmental quality.