The following paper assesses the relationship between electricity consumption, economic growth, environmental pollution, and Information and Communications Technology (ICT) development in Kazakhstan. Using the structural equation method, the study analyzes panel data gathered across various regions of Kazakhstan between 2014 and 2022. The data were sourced from official records of the Bureau of National Statistics of Kazakhstan and include all regions of Kazakhstan. The chosen timeframe includes the period from 2014, which marked a significant drop in oil prices that impacted the overall economic situation in the country, to 2022. The main hypotheses of the study relate to the impact of electricity consumption on economic growth, ICT, and environmental sustainability, as well as ICT’s role in economic development and environmental impact. The results show electricity consumption’s positive effect on economic growth and ICT development while also revealing an increase in pollutant emissions (emissions of liquid and gaseous pollutants) with economic growth and electricity consumption. The development of ICT in Kazakhstan has been revealed to not have a direct effect on reducing pollutant emissions into the environment, raising important questions about how technology can be leveraged to mitigate environmental impact, whether current technological advancements are sufficient to address environmental challenges, and what specific measures are needed to enhance the environmental benefits of ICT. There is a clear necessity to integrate sustainable practices and technologies to achieve balanced development. These results offer important insights into the relationships among electricity consumption, technology, economic development, and environmental issues. They underscore the complexity and multidimensionality of these interactions and suggest directions for future research, especially in the context of finding sustainable solutions for balanced development.

Adedoyin, F. F., Bekun, F. V., Driha, O. M., & Balsalobre-Lorente, D. (2020). The effects of air transportation, energy, ICT and FDI on economic growth in the industry 4.0 era: Evidence from the United States. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 160, 120297. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120297

Adeleye, B. N., Adedoyin, F., & Nathaniel, S. (2021). The criticality of ICT-trade nexus on economic and inclusive growth. Information Technology for Development, 27(2), 293–313. https://doi.org/10.1080/02681102.2020.1840323

Alam, M. M., & Murad, M. W. (2020). The impacts of economic growth, trade openness and technological progress on renewable energy use in organization for economic co-operation and development countries. Renewable Energy, 145, 382–390. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.06.054

Al-Shetwi, A. Q. (2022). Sustainable development of renewable energy integrated power sector: Trends, environmental impacts, and recent challenges. Science of The Total Environment, 822, 153645. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.153645

Appiah-Otoo, I., & Song, N. (2021). The impact of ICT on economic growth-Comparing rich and poor countries. Telecommunications Policy, 45(2), 102082. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2020.102082

Arshad, Z., Robaina, M., & Botelho, A. (2020). The role of ICT in energy consumption and environment: an empirical investigation of Asian economies with cluster analysis. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27, 32913–32932. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09229-7

Asongu, S. A., Agboola, M. O., Alola, A. A., & Bekun, F. V. (2020). The criticality of growth, urbanization, electricity and fossil fuel consumption to environment sustainability in Africa. Science of the Total Environment, 712, 136376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.136376

Banerjee, R., Mishra, V., & Maruta, A. A. (2021). Energy poverty, health and education outcomes: evidence from the developing world. Energy economics, 101, 105447. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105447

Baz, K., Cheng, J., Xu, D., et al. (2021). Asymmetric impact of fossil fuel and renewable energy consumption on economic growth: A nonlinear technique. Energy, 226, 120357. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2021.120357

Bilal, A., Li, X., Zhu, N., et al. (2021). Green technology innovation, globalization, and CO2 emissions: recent insights from the OBOR economies. Sustainability, 14(1), 236. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14010236

Caglar, A. E., Mert, M., & Boluk, G. (2021). Testing the role of information and communication technologies and renewable energy consumption in ecological footprint quality: Evidence from world top 10 pollutant footprint countries. Journal of Cleaner Production, 298, 126784. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2021.126784

Charfeddine, L., & Umlai, M. (2023). ICT sector, digitization and environmental sustainability: A systematic review of the literature from 2000 to 2022. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 184, 113482. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2023.113482

Chen, W., & Yan, W. (2020). Impact of internet electronic commerce on SO 2 pollution: Evidence from China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27, 25801–25812. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09027-1

Chen, X. H., Tee, K., Elnahass, M., & Ahmed, R. (2023). Assessing the environmental impacts of renewable energy sources: A case study on air pollution and carbon emissions in China. Journal of environmental management, 345, 118525. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2023.118525

Cheng, C. Y., Chien, M. S., & Lee, C. C. (2021). ICT diffusion, financial development, and economic growth: An international cross-country analysis. Economic modelling, 94, 662–671. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2020.02.008

De Vos, J. (2020). The effect of COVID-19 and subsequent social distancing on travel behavior. Transportation research interdisciplinary perspectives, 5, 100121. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.trip.2020.100121

Destek, M. A., & Aslan, A. (2020). Disaggregated renewable energy consumption and environmental pollution nexus in G-7 countries. Renewable energy, 151, 1298–1306. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.11.138

Doğan, B., Balsalobre-Lorente, D., & Nasir, M. A. (2020). European commitment to COP21 and the role of energy consumption, FDI, trade and economic complexity in sustaining economic growth. Journal of environmental Management, 273, 111146. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2020.111146

Egbetokun, S., Osabuohien, E., Akinbobola, T., et al. (2020). Environmental pollution, economic growth and institutional quality: exploring the nexus in Nigeria. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 31(1), 18–31. https://doi.org/10.1108/MEQ-02-2019-0050

Emenike, S. N., & Falcone, G. (2020). A review on energy supply chain resilience through optimization. Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, 134, 110088. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rser.2020.110088

Erlando, A., Riyanto, F. D., & Masakazu, S. (2020). Financial inclusion, economic growth, and poverty alleviation: evidence from eastern Indonesia. Heliyon, 6(10). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2020.e05235

Fan, W., & Hao, Y. (2020). An empirical research on the relationship amongst renewable energy consumption, economic growth and foreign direct investment in China. Renewable energy, 146, 598–609. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.renene.2019.06.170

Fernández-Portillo, A., Almodóvar-González, M., & Hernández-Mogollón, R. (2020). Impact of ICT development on economic growth. A study of OECD European union countries. Technology in Society, 63, 101420. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techsoc.2020.101420

Gan, T., Yang, H., & Liang, W. (2021). How do urban haze pollution and economic development affect each other? Empirical evidence from 287 Chinese cities during 2000–2016. Sustainable Cities and Society, 65, 102642. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scs.2020.102642

Hao, Y., Guo, Y., & Wu, H. (2022). The role of information and communication technology on green total factor energy efficiency: does environmental regulation work? Business Strategy and the Environment, 31(1), 403–424. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2901

Hassan, S. T., Batool, B., Zhu, B., & Khan, I. (2022). Environmental complexity of globalization, education, and income inequalities: New insights of energy poverty. Journal of Cleaner Production, 340, 130735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2022.130735

Heidtmann, K. F., & Selck, T. J. (2021). Local level failure? Non-compliance of EU environmental policy within EU multi-level governance. Regional & Federal Studies, 1–20. https://doi.org/10.1080/13597566.2021.1998006

Jiang, P., Van Fan, Y., & Klemeš, J. J. (2021). Impacts of COVID-19 on energy demand and consumption: Challenges, lessons and emerging opportunities. Applied energy, 285, 116441. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apenergy.2021.116441

Katal, A., Dahiya, S., & Choudhury, T. (2023). Energy efficiency in cloud computing data centers: a survey on software technologies. Cluster Computing, 26(3), 1845–1875. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10586-022-03713-0

Lange, S., Pohl, J., & Santarius, T. (2020). Digitalization and energy consumption. Does ICT reduce energy demand? Ecological economics, 176, 106760. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106760

Li, Y., Yang, X., Ran, Q., et al. (2021). Energy structure, digital economy, and carbon emissions: evidence from China. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28, 64606–64629. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-15304-4

Li, Z., Luan, W., Zhang, Z., & Su, M. (2020). Relationship between urban construction land expansion and population/economic growth in Liaoning Province, China. Land Use Policy, 99, 105022. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2020.105022

Mohmand, Y. T., Mehmood, F., Mughal, K. S., & Aslam, F. (2021). Investigating the causal relationship between transport infrastructure, economic growth and transport emissions in Pakistan. Research in Transportation Economics, 88, 100972. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.retrec.2020.100972

Mohsin, M., Hanif, I., Taghizadeh-Hesary, F., et al. (2021). Nexus between energy efficiency and electricity reforms: a DEA-based way forward for clean power development. Energy Policy, 149, 112052. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2020.112052

Moroz, G. V., Grytsan, O. A., Vivcharenko, A., & Kobetska, N. R. (2021). Relationship between economic growth and environmental pressures (legal aspects). International Journal of Agricultural Extension, 9(4), 127–139. https://doi.org/10.33687/ijae.009.00.3728

Mucowska, M. (2021). Trends of environmentally sustainable solutions of urban last-mile deliveries on the e-commerce market—a literature review. Sustainability, 13(11), 5894. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13115894

Mughal, N., Arif, A., Jain, V., et al. (2022). The role of technological innovation in environmental pollution, energy consumption and sustainable economic growth: Evidence from South Asian economies. Energy Strategy Reviews, 39, 100745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.esr.2021.100745

Murshed, M. (2020). An empirical analysis of the non-linear impacts of ICT-trade openness on renewable energy transition, energy efficiency, clean cooking fuel access and environmental sustainability in South Asia. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27(29), 36254–36281. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-09497-3

Nasreen, S., Mbarek, M. B., & Atiq-ur-Rehman, M. (2020). Long-run causal relationship between economic growth, transport energy consumption and environmental quality in Asian countries: Evidence from heterogeneous panel methods. Energy, 192, 116628. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.energy.2019.116628

Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J. (2021). New urban models for more sustainable, liveable and healthier cities post covid19; reducing air pollution, noise and heat island effects and increasing green space and physical activity. Environment international, 157, 106850. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2021.106850

Osobajo, O. A., Otitoju, A., Otitoju, M. A., & Oke, A. (2020). The impact of energy consumption and economic growth on carbon dioxide emissions. Sustainability, 12(19), 7965. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12197965

Rahman, M. M. (2020). Environmental degradation: The role of electricity consumption, economic growth and globalisation. Journal of environmental management, 253, 109742. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2019.109742

Rao, C., & Yan, B. (2020). Study on the interactive influence between economic growth and environmental pollution. Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 27, 39442–39465. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-020-10017-6

Ren, S., Hao, Y., Xu, L., et al. (2021). Digitalization and energy: How does internet development affect China’s energy consumption? Energy Economics, 98, 105220. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eneco.2021.105220

Ridzuan, A. R., Albani, A., Latiff, A. R. A., et al. (2020). The impact of energy consumption based on fossil fuel and hydroelectricity generation towards pollution in Malaysia, Indonesia and Thailand. International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, 10(1), 215–227. https://doi.org/10.32479/ijeep.8140

Roshchyk, I., Oliinyk, O., Mishchuk, H., & Bilan, Y. (2022). It products, e-commerce, and growth: analysis of links in emerging market. Transformations in Business & Economics, 21(1), 209.

Saint Akadiri, S., Alola, A. A., Olasehinde-Williams, G., & Etokakpan, M. U. (2020). The role of electricity consumption, globalization and economic growth in carbon dioxide emissions and its implications for environmental sustainability targets. Science of The Total Environment, 708, 134653. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134653

Sarangi, A. K., & Pradhan, R. P. (2020). ICT infrastructure and economic growth: A critical assessment and some policy implications. Decision, 47, 363–383. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40622-020-00263-5

Sharma, R., Shahbaz, M., Kautish, P., & Vo, X. V. (2021). Does energy consumption reinforce environmental pollution? Evidence from emerging Asian economies. Journal of Environmental Management, 297, 113272. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2021.113272

Solomon, E. M., & van Klyton, A. (2020). The impact of digital technology usage on economic growth in Africa. Utilities policy, 67, 101104. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jup.2020.101104

Strielkowski, W., Civín, L., Tarkhanova, E., et al. (2021). Renewable energy in the sustainable development of electrical power sector: A review. Energies, 14(24), 8240. https://doi.org/10.3390/en14248240

Tainio, M., Andersen, Z. J., Nieuwenhuijsen, M. J., et al. (2021). Air pollution, physical activity and health: A mapping review of the evidence. Environment international, 147, 105954. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2020.105954

Usman, A., Ozturk, I., Hassan, A., et al. (2021). The effect of ICT on energy consumption and economic growth in South Asian economies: an empirical analysis. Telematics and Informatics, 58, 101537. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tele.2020.101537

Vu, K., Hanafizadeh, P., & Bohlin, E. (2020). ICT as a driver of economic growth: A survey of the literature and directions for future research. Telecommunications Policy, 44(2), 101922. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.telpol.2020.101922

Wei, X., Ren, H., Ullah, S., & Bozkurt, C. (2023). Does environmental entrepreneurship play a role in sustainable green development? Evidence from emerging Asian economies. Economic research-Ekonomska istraživanja, 36(1), 73–85. https://doi.org/10.1080/1331677X.2022.2067887

Wen, H., Lee, C. C., Song, Z. (2021). Digitalization and environment: how does ICT affect enterprise environmental performance? Environmental Science and Pollution Research, 28(39), 54826–54841. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-14474-5

Xiong, J., & Xu, D. (2021). Relationship between energy consumption, economic growth and environmental pollution in China. Environmental Research, 194, 110718. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envres.2021.110718

Zhang, C., Khan, I., Dagar, V., et al. (2022). Environmental impact of information and communication technology: Unveiling the role of education in developing countries. Technological Forecasting and Social Change, 178, 121570. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.techfore.2022.121570