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In recent decades, information and communication technology (ICT) has revolutionized the world affecting every aspect of life, including education, business, social activities, and environment. Consequently, the studies linking ICT and environmental sustainability are growing owing to its positive and adverse effects on environmental sustainability, and the noticeable disagreement in literature. Therefore, current work examines the criticality of ICT, human capital (education and return on education), and globalization in environmental sustainability, controlling urbanization and economic growth in the Latin American and Caribbean (LCA) region, where economic growth and globalization have substantially increased over the past three decades. Reliable panel econometric techniques, including second-generation unit root tests, Westerlund (2007, 2008) cointegration tests, and continuously-updated fully modified (CUP-BC) and continuously-updated bias-corrected (CUP-FM) long-run estimators are employed on the data for the period 1995–2017. The empirical estimations unfold that ICT (computed by a four components ICT index) and globalization contribute to reduce CO 2 emissions. On the dark side, economic growth and urbanization degrade environment. Surprisingly, human capital adds to environmental degradation. The panel causality results reveal that ICT and globalization Granger cause CO 2 emissions. These unique findings provide new insight to alleviate environmental degradation in the LCA region. Based on these outcomes, a comprehensive set of policies are directed for environmental sustainability. Image 1 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On the quest for a clean and sustainable environment, the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8 stipulates the need to reduce carbon emissions, decarbonize the energy system, improve energy consumption and ensure the attainment of sustainable energy. In the same vein, SDG 9 pertains to the prevention of environmental degradation, promoting biodiversity and preserving the ecosystem to support inclusive human and economic development. Given the hazardous impact of carbon emissions, if left unabated, and the benefits of preserving nature's ecosystem, the motivation for this study hinges on analyzing factors that threaten a sustainable environment using two proxies of environmental degradation: carbon emissions and ecological footprint. With a battery of static and dynamic econometric techniques on a sample of 44 selected African countries from 1992 to 2016, findings reveal the following: (1) energy usage deteriorates the environment, and (2) urbanization has asymmetric effects on the environment. Controlling for per capita GDP, financial development and gross fixed capital formation, evidence suggests that per capita GDP has an asymmetric impact, financial development accelerates environmental degradation, while gross fixed capital formation intensifies a sustainable environment. Policy outcomes and implications for sustainability are discussed. • Various determinants of CO 2 emissions and ecological (EF) footprint are explored. • Financial development increases CO 2 emissions and EF. • Energy consumption adds to the EF. • Gross fixed capital formation exacerbates CO 2 emissions, but declines the EF. • Urbanization has asymmetric effects on the environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]