Ecological Footprint Study as an Indicator of Sustainable Economic Development in ASEAN Countries

The ecological footprint is a metric that can be used to assess the state of environmental carrying capacity and the sustainability of economic development. The objective of this study is to examine the long-term impact of GDP per capita, trade openness, and energy use on the ecological footprint in ASEAN countries. The study utilizes panel data from 2000 to 2019 across eight ASEAN nations. Secondary data was gathered from authoritative sources such as the Global Footprint Network (GFN), the World Bank, and Our World in Data. The study employed the Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS) analysis approach. In this study, the ecological footprint serves as the dependent variable, while the independent variables include GDP per capita, trade openness, and energy use. The study's findings indicate that GDP per capita has a positive but statistically insignificant impact on the ecological footprint in high-income nations over the long term. Conversely, in middle-income countries, GDP per capita has a positive and statistically significant effect on the ecological footprint over the long term. In high-income nations, trade openness has a positive but statistically insignificant impact on the long-term ecological footprint. However, in middle-income countries, trade openness has a positive and statistically significant impact on the long-term ecological footprint. Energy usage in both high- and middle-income countries has a significant..