Economy-energy-environment nexus: The role of information and communication technology towards green development in Malaysia

Global warming and climate change are caused by anthropogenic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from rising energy consumption due to population and economic growth. Over the past decade, information and communication technology (ICT) usage has increased which may increase energy utilization and GHG emissions. Conversely, ICT's clean technologies can minimize pollution. Therefore, this study investigated the dynamic influences of ICT, economic growth, population, and energy use on GHG emissions in Malaysia by employing the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach using data from 1990 to 2021. The results of the ARDL bounds test indicated the existence of a long-run link between the variables. The results revealed that a 1% increase in the number of Internet users could increase GHG emissions by 0.013% in the short run but cut GHG emissions by 0.077% in the long run. Additionally, economic growth, population, and energy usage have a positive association with GHG emissions. The robustness of the ARDL outcomes has been checked by using the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS), Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), and Canonical Cointegration Regression (CCR) methods. This article offers additional policy proposals for emission reduction and sustainable development by promoting renewable energy use and financing green ICT.