This study investigates the effects of financial globalization, trade globalization, and information and communication technology on the ecological footprint in G9 industrial economies (China, the United States, Japan, Germany, India, South Korea, Italy, France, and the United Kingdom) from 2000Q1 to 2018Q4. A distinctive Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) model was employed to analyze these relationships, and the Bootstrap Quantile Regression (BSQR) model was used to validate the results. The findings reveal that financial globalization (FG), environmental tax (ETAX), and institutional quality (IQ) contribute to environmentally sustainable development by reducing the ecological footprint (ECOFP). In contrast, trade globalization, information and communication technology (ICT), and gross domestic product (GDP) have a significant positive impact on the ecological footprint, leading to increased environmental degradation. The BSQR results corroborate these findings, confirming the roles of financial globalization, institutional quality, environmental tax, trade globalization, information and communication technology, and gross domestic product in shaping the ecological footprint. Based on these results, policymakers in G9 industrial nations should promote financial globalization as a tool to reduce the ecological footprint by encouraging green financing and environmentally sustainable investments. For trade globalization, stricter environmental regulations and sustainable trade practices are essential to mitigate its adverse environmental effects. Also, efforts to minimize the ecological impact of information and communication technology should focus on integrating renewable energy into ICT infrastructure and advancing green technology innovations.

This study examines the asymmetric effects of natural resources (NRs), population density (PD), energy intensity (EI), GDP, and government effectiveness (GOVEFF) on ecological footprint (EF) in ECOWAS countries from 1996 to 2020. Employing panel quantile regression approaches, including the Method of Moments Quantile Regression (MMQR) and Bootstrap Quantile Regression (BSQR), the analysis captures heterogeneous effects across the distribution of ecological footprints. The findings reveal that natural resources, population density, energy intensity, and GDP significantly exacerbate ecological footprint, particularly at higher quantiles, whereas government effectiveness mitigates these impacts. Robustness checks confirm the stability of the results. Furthermore, the interaction terms (GOVEFF with NRs and PD) demonstrate that strong institutional quality significantly reduces the adverse environmental effects of resource dependence and population growth. These results highlight the importance of strengthening governance structures, promoting energy efficiency, and implementing resource management reforms to facilitate sustainable transitions in ECOWAS countries.