Ecological Footprint and Digital Technologies in Asian Countries

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to identify the impact of information and communication technologies and measures taken by telecommunications companies in China, Japan and South Korea on the environment of these countries.Materials and methods. Indexes of the ecological footprint (based on the Global Footprint Network data) and greenhouse gas emissions (based on the International Energy Agency data) for these countries are used as a measure of environmental assessment. Based on the Sustainability Reports of telecommunication companies in these countries (China Mobile, SK Telekom, KDDI and others), their strategies for environmental protection and achieving a zero carbon footprint are examined. The impact of information and communication technologies is assessed using indexes of the number of Internet users, fixed Internet access, mobile communications users per 100 people of the country’s population, the share of ICT goods and services in the total exports and imports of countries, as well as the growth index of IT investments in the private sector for Japan. For each country, a correlation matrix was constructed depending on the level of the logarithm of the ecological footprint (Y) on the logarithms of the listed indexes; the factors that most influence Y and are not multicollinear were selected. Based on the selected indexes, multiple regression models were developed for each country and their parameters were assessed.Results. For China and South Korea, a positive elasticity of the ecological footprint was obtained for the number of mobile phone users (for China) and fixed broadband Internet access (for South Korea). In addition, the import of ICT goods into a country reduces its environmental footprint, and the export of ICT services from the country leads to an increase in the index. For Japan, negative elasticities of the ICT sector indexes for the country’s ecological footprint were obtained, which is associated with measures taken by telecommunication companies to reduce their own consumption of electricity and other resources, as well as the widespread use of digital technologies for energy saving in other sectors of the Japanese economy.Conclusion. For China and South Korea, significant dependences of the country’s ecological footprint on the spread of digital technologies were obtained, and their diffusion entails an increase in the index. While this impact is not very large, the widespread adoption of 5G mobile communications in these countries should be taken into account, which could significantly increase the share of the ICT sector in the countries’ environmental footprint. At the same time, Japanese telecommunication companies are promoting environmental protection