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    Determinants of the Ecological Footprint in ALADI Countries: Economic Growth, Trade Openness, Energy Intensity, and ICT Services Exports
    (MDPI AG, 2026-05-26)
    Morales-Urrutia, Ximena
    ;
    Núñez-Naranjo, Aracelly Fernanda  
    ;
    Solórzano, Melissa
    ;
    Pico-Barrionuevo, Fanny
    ;
    Acosta-Vargas, Patricia
    Environmental degradation has become a critical structural challenge for sustainable development, particularly in regions where economic growth remains closely linked to natural resource exploitation. In Latin America, and specifically within ALADI countries, limited empirical evidence exists on the dynamic interactions among economic growth, trade integration, energy efficiency, and digital transformation in shaping environmental pressures. This study addresses this gap by employing a dynamic panel data approach based on System GMM for the period 2000–2021. The results reveal that economic growth and trade openness have a positive, statistically significant effect on the ecological footprint, confirming the persistence of scale effects and the absence of structural decoupling between economic expansion and environmental degradation. In contrast, energy intensity and ICT service exports, although positively associated with environmental pressure, did not show statistically significant effects, suggesting that their role in driving sustainability transitions remains limited under current structural conditions. These findings highlight that structural economic factors predominantly drive environmental dynamics in the ALADI region, while the estimated effects associated with technological and efficiency-related variables remain comparatively weak and statistically inconclusive under current structural conditions. From a policy perspective, the study underscores the need for deeper structural transformations, including cleaner energy transitions, stronger environmental regulation in trade, and a more effective integration of digitalization into sustainability strategies. The study contributes to the literature by providing robust dynamic evidence on socio-environmental interactions in developing economies and advancing the understanding of sustainability transitions in Latin America. © 2026 by the authors.