Sand mining in BRICS economies: Tragedy of the commons or fortune in the making?

Abstract

Sand is a strategic natural resource that plays a key role in delivering ecological services, protecting biodiversity, promoting economic growth, and supplying means of subsistence. This study investigates the relationship between sand mining, land-use change, economic growth, environmental policy stringency, urbanization, biodiversity loss, and ecological footprint in BRICS economies using a quantile regression (MM-QR) approach over the period 1990–2020. For robustness, this study employs the Dumitrescu-Hurling causality panel test to explore and validate the long-term association among the variables. The empirical results reveal that urbanization, economic growth, land use changes and sand mining are all positively associated with environmental degradation in the long run. Results further indicate that weak environmental governance and biodiversity loss leads to deterioration of environmental quality. Overall, the study infers that sand is a common pool resource that is prone to the tragedy of the commons, posing a real threat to the environment and economic development in BRICS economies. The results highlight the importance of sustainable sand mining practices and environmental governance in promoting environmental quality and offset the negative consequences associated with this activity.