Convergence of ecological footprint and sustainable policy options

Abstract

Human activities impact on environment and resources needs policy actions. We provide a new multivariate model which helps to assess how to shape and quantify appropriate policy responses taking into account equity and sustainability. The model analyzes the joint dynamic growth rate of three relevant components of ecological footprint: cropland factor; water resources usage; CO2 emissions, estimating their joint rate of convergence, explicitly including conditioning variables, in the period 1971–2018. This model provides a quantitative assessment of the determinants of convergence across countries, that might help policy makers to take measures to enhance the success of achieving the target. Results show that countries with lowest levels of the ecological footprint components are growing faster than those countries with the highest level of these components. In addition, a higher participation to the international trade (openness of the economy) and a higher investment share is beneficial to accelerate the countries’ dynamics toward a converging path characterized by a more sustainable ecological footprint.