The influence of Information and Communication Technologies, Renewable Energies and Urbanization toward Environmental Sustainability in China

Abstract

The smart cities strategy is crucial to safeguarding the environment, which is possible with the help of renewable energy and information and communication technologies (ICTs). Therefore, this research investigates the effect of ICT, green energy or renewable energy, urbanization, and economic growth (GDP) on environmental sustainability in China. The study employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) method to analyze the data. The findings demonstrate that ICT and renewable energy have an adverse and significant effect on carbon dioxide (CO₂) emissions in the country. It states that the rise of ICT and renewable energy increases the quality of the environment. On the other hand, urbanization and economic growth have a positive and significant impact on CO₂ emissions. The result argues that large-scale urbanization decreases the quality of the environment. The research recommends that ICT diffusion, renewable energy consumption, smart urbanization, and a low-carbon economy strategy assist in achieving environmental sustainability goals.