The Effect of Economic Growth on Environmental Sustainability in Iran: Application of Ecological Footprint

In this study, by utilizing the Ecological Footprint (EF) as an environmental sustainability indicator in context of Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC), the effect of economic growth on environmental sustainability in Iran was examined. To achieve this goal, an environmental degradation model is established during the period of 1985–2013. Furthermore, the long and short run relationships between EF and per capita Gross Domestic Production (GDP), energy consumption per capita, population intensity and trade openness were investigated by applying Autoregressive Distributed Lag (ARDL) approach. The empirical results revealed that the relationship between EF and economic growth is inverted U-shaped and statistically significant. Moreover, a 10% increase in population intensity is linked with 11.2% and 9.6% growth in EF in long and short run, respectively. Although the impact of trade openness is positive on EF and statistically significant in long run, there is not significant impact in short run. Furthermore, a 10% increase in energy consumption is linked with 4.6% and 3.9% growth in EF in long and short run, respectively. The result shows the desirability of energy consumption efficiency, developing clean energy, lowering urban intensity and improving environmental monitoring.