Economic Growth, Energy Consumption, and Environmental Sustainability in Southeast Asia: Evidence from Symmetric and Asymmetric Models

This study examines the effects of economic growth and energy consumption on environmental degradation in nine Southeast Asian countries from 1990 to 2022. By jointly employing carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and the ecological footprint (EFP) within both symmetric and asymmetric panel ARDL frameworks, the study provides a more comprehensive assessment of environmental sustainability than previous studies that rely on a single environmental indicator or a linear specification. The empirical results indicate that economic growth and energy consumption remain key drivers of environmental degradation, although their effects vary with the environmental indicator used. Both the panel ARDL and NARDL estimates support the EKC hypothesis when environmental degradation is measured by CO2 emissions, but reject it when the EFP is used, highlighting the importance of adopting multidimensional measures of environmental sustainability. Furthermore, the panel NARDL results reveal significant long-run asymmetric effects of energy consumption, with increases in energy use exerting stronger adverse impacts on both CO2 emissions and the EFP than equivalent decreases. These contrasting findings suggest that improvements in carbon efficiency associated with economic growth do not necessarily alleviate broader pressures on natural resources and ecological systems. The robustness of the results is confirmed using FMOLS, DOLS, and CCR estimators, while the causality analysis identifies long-run bidirectional relationships among economic growth, energy consumption, and environmental degradation. These findings emphasize the need for integrated policy measures that promote renewable energy adoption, cleaner industrial development, improved energy efficiency, and stronger environmental governance to support sustainable economic growth and accelerate the transition toward net-zero emissions in Southeast Asia.