The role of information and communication technologies in mitigating carbon emissions: evidence from panel quantile regression

The objective of the study is to analyze the dynamic linkages between technology factors and carbon emission in a panel of 26 selected European countries from 2000 to 2017. The results of the panel fixed-effect regression model show the monotonic increasing function between agriculture technology and carbon emissions. In contrast, panel quantile regression confirmed the inverted U-shaped ‘Agriculture Technology Kuznets curve (ATKC)’ of carbon emissions at 30th quantile distribution to 80th quantile distribution with the turning points of 12,60,000 tractors to 9,68,000 tractors, respectively. The results further exhibit the negative relationship between high-technology exports and carbon emissions, as high-technology exports have a positive impact on environmental quality in order to reduce carbon emissions across countries. The relationship between ICT goods exports and carbon emissions is complimentary, while R&D expenditures have a negative relationship with carbon emissions in a given period. The study substantiates the ‘pollution haven hypothesis (PHH)’ that is controlled by trade liberalization policies. The telephone and mobile penetrations have a differential impact on carbon emissions in both of the prescribed statistical techniques, which needs fair economic policies in order to delimit carbon emissions through green ICT infrastructure. The results further exhibit the ‘material footprint’ that is visible at the earlier stages of economic development while it is substantially decreasing at the later stages to verify ‘environmental Kuznets curve (EKC)’ hypothesis with a turning point of US$45,700. Finally, the study shows the positive relationship between industry value-added and carbon emissions that sabotaged the process of green development across countries. The study concludes that green ICT infrastructure is imperative for sustainable production and consumption, and climate change protection with cleaner production techniques and environmental regulations that reshape the international policies towards sustained growth.