ICT Development, Governance Quality and the Environmental Performance: Avoidable Thresholds from the Lower and Lower-Middle-Income Countries

Purpose: This paper aims to study the relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) readiness, use, and intensity and environmental sustainability factors in the lower and middle lower-income countries from 2012 to 2018. Design/methodology/approach: ICT readiness, use and intensity are measured with the impact of ICT on access to basic services, phone penetration and Internet penetration, while CO2 emissions per capita, fossil fuel energy consumption and methane emissions are used as indicators for air pollution. To achieve this goal, a two-step generalized method of moments (GMM) estimation was performed which thresholds are computed contingent on the validity of tested hypotheses. Findings: The results demonstrate that increasing ICT readiness, use and intensity in lower and lower-middle-income countries enhance environmental sustainability by decreasing CO2 emissions and energy consumption. Research limitations/implications: One of the limitations of this study is that the conclusions and policy recommendations do not take into account the specificities of each country. Indeed there are some differences in the growth pattern of ICT in the lower and middle-lower-income countries. Taken together, the authors conclude that increasing ICT has a positive net effect on CO2 and methane emissions per capita, while increasing the impact of ICT access in basic services has a net negative effect on CO2 fossil fuel energy consumption and methane emissions. Practical implications: The world needs immediate emissions reduction to avoid the long-term danger of climate change. Second, government authorities should give additional efforts in the more pollutant sector such as transport and industry to monitor their energy consumption. Originality/value: To explore this issue further, the negative net effects suggest that ICT needs to be further developed beyond the determined thresholds, to attain the required negative net effect on fossil fuel energy consumption. \textcopyright 2021, Emerald Publishing Limited.