Towards achieving net zero emission targets and sustainable development goals, can long-term material footprint strategies be a useful tool?

This study analyzes material footprint (MF), which can be essential in achieving net zero emission targets and sustainable development goals for EURO-26 countries. Increasing the efficiency of MF rather than domestic material consumption is more effective in reducing emissions. Therefore, this study examines the relationship between MF, economic growth, and CO ₂ emissions for EURO-26 countries. For empirical analysis, second-generation panel cointegration tests and long-term coefficient estimators, which consider the cross-sectional dependence, are employed. The empirical results indicate that (i) there is a long-term relationship between the variables and (ii) MF increases the CO ₂ emissions. However, the positive relationship between economic growth and CO ₂ emissions is statistically insignificant. According to the individual results, while the impact of MF on CO ₂ emissions is negative in developed countries, MF increases CO ₂ emissions in developing countries in general. Overall findings reveal that long-term material footprint strategies should be implemented in EURO-26 countries and material footprint policies can be used as a strategic tool to achieve net zero emission targets and sustainable development goals (SDGs).
(© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)