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The impact of renewable energy consumption on environmental degradation in organization of islamic cooperation countries

Year: 2026

Type: article

Abstract: This study investigates the impact of renewable energy consumption (REC) and economic structure on environmental degradation, measured by the ecological footprint (ECF), across 35 Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) countries over 5 years. Employing the two-step system GMM estimation framework to address endogeneity, the study analyses the dynamic relationships between ecological footprint, renewable energy consumption, GDP, the square of GDP, per capita industrial, agricultural, and services value-added, the square of per capita industrial, agricultural, and services value-added, financial development, trade openness, and green investment. The results demonstrate various key findings: (1) the results confirm the highly persistent nature of ecological footprint, with lagged ECF coefficients ranging from 0.722 to 0.896 across all specifications. (2) Renewable energy consumption demonstrates a consistently negative and significant relationship with ecological footprint, confirming that greater clean energy adoption reduces environmental pressure. (3) The analysis finds no evidence for the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis. Instead of an inverted U-shaped relationship, the results indicate a U-shaped curve is observed for GDP at the aggregate level and is further validated through a sectoral lens, with services value-added also demonstrating significant U-curve relationships with the ecological footprint. (4) Trade openness (TO) is also a persistent positive driver, supporting the 'pollution haven' hypothesis. (5) Finally, the green investment policy (GI) exhibits a consistently negative and highly significant coefficient across all four models, proving to be the most robust factor in reducing the ecological footprint. The study recommends that OIC countries move beyond isolated measures like promoting renewables or efficiency. Instead, it calls for a comprehensive policy package featuring strict green investment mandates, financial sector reforms for sustainability, consumption-based environmental accounting, and implementing deliberate greening of service sectors to genuinely decouple growth from degradation.

Source: Discover Sustainability

DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-03933-z

Authors: Maram Issam Khateeb, Fathin Faizah Said, Norlida Hanim Mohd Salleh, Zulkefly Abdul Karim, Samer Nayef AlKhatib

Institutions: National University of Malaysia, Universiti Tenaga Nasional

Language: English

Topic: Energy, Environment, Economic Growth

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Climate action, Responsible consumption and production, Affordable and clean energy, Decent work and economic growth

Open Access status: gold

Estimated APC paid: $1,390