Investigating the Effectiveness of E-government in Improving Environmental Quality (Evidence from MENA Countries)

In recent decades, the destruction of the environment and the emission of greenhouse gases such as CO₂ has become a national and transnational crisis for many governments worldwide. In this respect, information and communication technology (ICT) and its increasing growth in these years have given governments an appropriate opportunity to implement and expand e-government and to create a chain of changes in governance and macro-management. Also, by providing efficient electronic services, they can better deal with the existing challenges and play a more effective role in improving society’s environmental quality and welfare. The present research investigates the relationship between the development of e-government and CO₂ emissions in the Middle East and North African countries (MENA) for a 2007-2022 period using the GMM approach. The obtained results show that the development of e-government has had a negative and significant impact on CO₂ emissions in the mentioned countries.
Moreover, The results affirmed the EKC hypothesis in the MENA countries since economic growth is positively linked to CO₂ emissions. In contrast, the economic growth square is linked negatively to the environmental degradation indicator. Furthermore, per capita energy consumption, industry development, and urbanization, positively affect CO₂ emissions, and trade openness has statistically insignificant effects on CO₂ emissions. Thus, the authorities in this group of countries must take necessary measures to reduce carbon dioxide emissions and help improve environmental quality by implementing and improving electronic government as much as possible.