Exploring the impact of renewable energy consumption, trade openness, and government effectiveness on ecological footprint in selected BRICS countries

Environmental degradation has recently come to the forefront as a major issue that both present and future generations should be deeply concerned about. Using the method of Simultaneous Quantile Regression, this study investigates the influence of ecological footprint (EFP) in BRICS nations from 2002 to 2021 in relation to economic growth, renewable energy consumption (REC), trade openness (TOP), and government effectiveness (GOE). The quantile regression results reveal that economic growth increases ecological footprint, indicating higher environmental pressure, while renewable energy, trade openness, and government effectiveness significantly reduce ecological footprint across all quantiles, highlighting their crucial role in promoting sustainability. Canonical Cointegration Regression (CCR), Dynamic Ordinary Least Squares (DOLS), and Fully Modified Ordinary Least Squares (FMOLS) were employed for robustness analysis, all confirming the consistency of the results. Furthermore, the Dumitrescu–Hurlin causality test indicates a bidirectional relationship between trade openness and ecological footprint, while renewable energy exhibits a unidirectional causal relationship with ecological footprint. The empirical findings provide valuable insights for stakeholders and policymakers, offering evidence-based guidance to address environmental concerns, mitigate ecological footprints, and promote sustainable economic development in BRICS nations. © The Author(s) 2026.