Consumption and environmental trends in postsocialist Europe a cross-national analysis of the consumption-based environmental impact across three decades since the transition

Empirical research conducted in recent decades has confirmed the association between consumption-based socioeconomic performance and global environmental impact. The correlation between consumption and environmental trends may be a function of the extent of a country’s exposure to globalisation and its position in the world system. In the period following the transition in the former socialist bloc, the societies of postsocialist Europe established an objective to emulate Western lifestyles and consumption patterns. This study analyzes a three-decade period between 1993 and 2023 in terms of the domestic and global environmental impact of consumption in postsocialist European countries. The findings suggest that a more effective socioeconomic integration resulted in a higher global environmental impact of domestic consumption, despite the improving domestic environmental conditions in certain countries. While there are indications of mitigating ecological impact, the attainment of long-term sustainability would necessitate the eradication of core-periphery dependencies on a global scale.