Exploring the Determinants of Ecological Footprint in Selected South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation Economies: India, Bangladesh, and Pakistan

Abstract

South Asian countries are developing rapidly, and this development is increasing environmental stress, highlighting the need to examine the key determinants of the ecological footprints. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the impact of total population, natural resource rent, industrialization, renewable energy consumption, and GDP per person employed on the ecological footprint in the selected SAARC countries, Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan (BIP) by using panel data from 1990 to 2023. The study employed panel data techniques and applied a fixed effects model with Driscoll-Kraay standard errors to address issues of heteroscedasticity, autocorrelation, and cross-sectional dependence. Furthermore, the Westerlund test is utilized to check the long-run relationship. The findings reveal that natural resource rent and industrialization significantly increase ecological pressure, whereas renewable energy consumption helps to reduce environmental degradation. Population exhibits a positive but insignificant relationship with ecological footprint, while GDP per person has a negative and significant relationship with ecological footprint. In addition, the results show a long-term cointegrating relationship among the concerned variables. The results highlight the need for region-specific environmental policies that promote sustainable development without compromising economic progress. This study contributes to the growing literature on environmental sustainability in South Asia and provides empirical evidence for effective policy formulation aimed at achieving ecological balance.