How globalization and type of energy consumption affects ecological footprint? An inter-continental panel quantile analysis

Abstract

As human strive towards a better future, it's become clear that the quality of the environment is one of the most critical factors. But how exactly does human consumption lifestyle impact the environment? That's where this study comes in. As a proxy for human consumption pressure on the environment, this study used the ecological footprint. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of clean and dirty energy consumption per capita and globalization on the ecological footprint using a panel quantile random− effect model across 90 countries during the period 1980–2020. The results indicate, Dirty energy consumption per capita (DEC) has a positive significant effect on ecological footprint. However, clean energy consumption per capita (CEC) has a positive but non− significant effect on the ecological footprint. In other words, the impact of pure energy consumption is much less than that of dirty energy consumption. For example, in the fifth decile, the estimated coefficient of CEC is 2.4, while the coefficient of DEC is 12.3. Globalization and economic growth also have positive effects on ecological footprint. In this regard, within the fifth decile, both the coefficients of globalization and economic growth stand at 0.003. Hence, promoting sustainable development with a focus on substituting clean energy with dirty ones is a viable policy approach to reduce the environmental burden caused by human consumption. Furthermore, by cutting back globalization and denouncing consumerism, we have the power to limit the growth of the Ecological Footprint.

Graphical abstract