Investigation of the Impact of Energy Consumption and Economic Growth on Iran's Ecological Footprint

Abstract

In this study, the impact of energy consumption and economic growth on Iran's ecological footprint has been investigated. The research period spans from 1971 to 2019. Using the Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) method, the study evaluates the relationship between the variables in both the short and long term. The results indicate that energy consumption has a positive and significant effect on the ecological footprint in both short and long terms. This suggests that increasing energy consumption increases the ecological footprint.

Economic growth also exhibits a positive and significant impact on the ecological footprint. This finding is in line with theoretical expectations, indicating that increased economic activity and production lead to environmental degradation. The elasticity of the ecological footprint with respect to energy consumption is estimated to be approximately 0.8, meaning that a 1% increase in energy consumption leads to a 0.8% increase in the ecological footprint. Additionally, the elasticity of the ecological footprint with respect to economic growth is estimated to be around 0.9, implying that a 1% increase in economic growth results in a 0.9% rise in the ecological footprint.

Given these results, it is recommended that policymakers focus on implementing policies aimed at reducing environmental pollution through improved energy efficiency. Additionally, employing cleaner energy sources and adopting sustainable development practices should be prioritized to mitigate environmental impacts.