Effect of information and communication technology on the environmental sustainability: An empirical assessment for South Africa

Abstract

This study evaluates the dynamic association between Information Communication Technology (ICT), economic growth, financial development, energy consumption, and carbon dioxide emissions in the case of South Africa. As a developing country, climate change is not just an environmental problem but a developmental issue in South Africa, which motivates us to choose the variables as the determinants of environmental degradation function. Based on the data for the period 1990–2018, robust econometric estimations tools such as the unit root tests, cointegration tests, and ARDL based long run and short-run tests are used. Furthermore, by using the fully modified/dynamic ordinary least square (FM/DOLS) and canonical cointegration regression (CCR), the robustness of the long-run elasticity has been estimated. The empirical findings unfold that ICT, when measured in mobile phones, consumption of energy, and economic growth significantly help to increase the level of environmental degradation. In contrast, ICT proxied as measured in internet access and financial development helps to mitigate CO2 emissions. Based on these findings, certain strategies for environmental sustainability are discussed in this study.