Information & Communications Technology's influence on CO2 emissions & renewable energy consumption - and what it means for economic growth

Abstract

This research was conducted with the purpose of delving into the topic of ICT’s influence on CO2 emissions as well as renewable energy consumption, followed by examining the changes on these effects when taking into account the level of financial development (FD) and foreign direct investment (FDI) of a country. Subsequently, CO2 emissions and renewable energy consumption were tested for their roles in the positive relationship between ICT and economic growth - the conclusion reached by multiple previous studies. Country-level statistics within this study were collected from the World Bank National Accounts Data and the International Monetary Fund, adding up to 1,210 unique observations from 121 countries, spanning the duration from 2010 to 2019. Results yielded from using multiple linear regression models showed that development in ICT correlates to reductions in CO2 emissions while increasing renewable energy consumption. Further analysis indicates that these effects are more pronounced for countries with high levels of FD or high FDI. Finally, the positive association between ICT and economic growth is found to be reinforced by low levels of CO2 emissions and high levels of renewable energy consumption