Digital infrastructure readiness, environmental technology development, and environmental sustainability: Evidence from ASEAN-6 economies

Environmental sustainability has become a critical policy priority as rapid economic growth and technological expansion intensify environmental pressures. This study examines the relationship between environmental technology development and environmental sustainability in ASEAN-6 economies and investigates the moderating role of digital infrastructure readiness in this relationship. Using panel data over the period 2010–2022, the analysis employs the CCEMG estimator to account for cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneous country effects. Environmental sustainability and digital infrastructure readiness are constructed using multiple environmental and digital indicators. The baseline results indicate that environmental technology development alone does not exert a statistically significant direct effect on environmental sustainability once common regional shocks are considered. However, the interaction term between environmental technology development and digital infrastructure readiness is statistically significant, suggesting that higher levels of digital infrastructure may weaken the environmental benefits of environmental technologies, possibly due to increased energy consumption associated with digital expansion. Robustness checks using alternative estimators confirm the directional stability of this interaction effect. The findings reveal that digital infrastructure can modify the environmental impact of technological innovation, potentially offsetting sustainability gains when digital expansion increases energy demand in carbon-intensive energy systems. These results highlight the importance of aligning digital transformation with renewable energy deployment and energy-efficient digital infrastructure.