Resource-Driven industrialization and economic growth in BRICS+: A pathway to sustainability or environmental tension?

This study investigates the long-run determinants of ecological footprint in BRICS+ countries over the period 1991–2022, focusing on the roles of natural resource exploitation, industrialization, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and information and communication technology (ICT). Using...

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Main Authors: Mahmud Hasan Riaz, Montasir Alam, Ayub Ali, Zobayer Ahmed, Mohammad Sharif Uddin, Asif Raihan
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-12-01
Series:Sustainable Futures
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825007002
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author Mahmud Hasan Riaz
Montasir Alam
Ayub Ali
Zobayer Ahmed
Mohammad Sharif Uddin
Asif Raihan
author_facet Mahmud Hasan Riaz
Montasir Alam
Ayub Ali
Zobayer Ahmed
Mohammad Sharif Uddin
Asif Raihan
author_sort Mahmud Hasan Riaz
collection DOAJ
description This study investigates the long-run determinants of ecological footprint in BRICS+ countries over the period 1991–2022, focusing on the roles of natural resource exploitation, industrialization, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and information and communication technology (ICT). Using advanced panel cointegration techniques—Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), and Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR)—the analysis provides robust empirical evidence on how these structural factors influence environmental sustainability across a diverse and geopolitically evolving set of emerging economies. The results indicate that natural resource exploitation, industrialization, and economic growth exert significant positive pressures on ecological footprints, reinforcing concerns about extractive-led development and carbon-intensive industrial expansion, mainly in the context of recent BRICS+ enlargement and global energy insecurity. Conversely, renewable energy consumption and ICT development are shown to significantly reduce ecological impacts, offering promising pathways for decoupling economic activity from environmental degradation. These results underscore the need for differentiated, data-driven environmental policy frameworks across BRICS+ countries, aligned with their respective development stages, institutional capacities, and sustainability goals. The research contributes to the ecological economics literature by offering actionable intuitions for green transition strategies in emerging economies and aligns with key targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goals 7, 9, 12, and 13.
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institution Kabale University
issn 2666-1888
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publishDate 2025-12-01
publisher Elsevier
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series Sustainable Futures
spelling doaj-art-b0d606219ee7499693dea1f79a98a6e92025-08-20T05:07:51ZengElsevierSustainable Futures2666-18882025-12-011010113610.1016/j.sftr.2025.101136Resource-Driven industrialization and economic growth in BRICS+: A pathway to sustainability or environmental tension?Mahmud Hasan Riaz0Montasir Alam1Ayub Ali2Zobayer Ahmed3Mohammad Sharif Uddin4Asif Raihan5Department of Economics & Banking, International Islamic University Chittagong, Chattogram, 4318, Bangladesh; Corresponding author.Department of Economics & Banking, International Islamic University Chittagong, Chattogram, 4318, BangladeshDepartment of Economics & Banking, International Islamic University Chittagong, Chattogram, 4318, BangladeshBangladesh Institute of Governance and Management, Dhaka, 1207, BangladeshDepartment of Environmental Sciences, Jahangirnagar University, Dhaka, 1342, BangladeshApplied Research Center for Environment and Marine Studies, King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals, Dhahran, 31261, Saudi ArabiaThis study investigates the long-run determinants of ecological footprint in BRICS+ countries over the period 1991–2022, focusing on the roles of natural resource exploitation, industrialization, economic growth, renewable energy consumption, and information and communication technology (ICT). Using advanced panel cointegration techniques—Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), and Canonical Cointegrating Regression (CCR)—the analysis provides robust empirical evidence on how these structural factors influence environmental sustainability across a diverse and geopolitically evolving set of emerging economies. The results indicate that natural resource exploitation, industrialization, and economic growth exert significant positive pressures on ecological footprints, reinforcing concerns about extractive-led development and carbon-intensive industrial expansion, mainly in the context of recent BRICS+ enlargement and global energy insecurity. Conversely, renewable energy consumption and ICT development are shown to significantly reduce ecological impacts, offering promising pathways for decoupling economic activity from environmental degradation. These results underscore the need for differentiated, data-driven environmental policy frameworks across BRICS+ countries, aligned with their respective development stages, institutional capacities, and sustainability goals. The research contributes to the ecological economics literature by offering actionable intuitions for green transition strategies in emerging economies and aligns with key targets of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goals 7, 9, 12, and 13.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825007002Resource-Driven industrializationEconomic growthEcological footprintBRICSEnvironmental sustainability
spellingShingle Mahmud Hasan Riaz
Montasir Alam
Ayub Ali
Zobayer Ahmed
Mohammad Sharif Uddin
Asif Raihan
Resource-Driven industrialization and economic growth in BRICS+: A pathway to sustainability or environmental tension?
Sustainable Futures
Resource-Driven industrialization
Economic growth
Ecological footprint
BRICS
Environmental sustainability
title Resource-Driven industrialization and economic growth in BRICS+: A pathway to sustainability or environmental tension?
title_full Resource-Driven industrialization and economic growth in BRICS+: A pathway to sustainability or environmental tension?
title_fullStr Resource-Driven industrialization and economic growth in BRICS+: A pathway to sustainability or environmental tension?
title_full_unstemmed Resource-Driven industrialization and economic growth in BRICS+: A pathway to sustainability or environmental tension?
title_short Resource-Driven industrialization and economic growth in BRICS+: A pathway to sustainability or environmental tension?
title_sort resource driven industrialization and economic growth in brics a pathway to sustainability or environmental tension
topic Resource-Driven industrialization
Economic growth
Ecological footprint
BRICS
Environmental sustainability
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2666188825007002
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AT ayubali resourcedrivenindustrializationandeconomicgrowthinbricsapathwaytosustainabilityorenvironmentaltension
AT zobayerahmed resourcedrivenindustrializationandeconomicgrowthinbricsapathwaytosustainabilityorenvironmentaltension
AT mohammadsharifuddin resourcedrivenindustrializationandeconomicgrowthinbricsapathwaytosustainabilityorenvironmentaltension
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