Technological innovation, militarization, and environmental change: evidence from BRICS economies

In the complex international society, the economic development and defense construction of BRICS countries have attracted increasing attention. This article incorporates technological innovation, militarization, and environmental change into a unified analytical framework to assess the potential impact of technological progress and defense military expenditure on the environment in BRICS countries. Based on CSD tests, unit root tests, and cointegration tests, this study constructs a CS-ARDL model to examine the long-term and short-term relationships among various variables from 1990 to 2021. The results show that technological innovation, military expenditure, and economic growth can significantly increase ecological footprint in the long run, while in the short term, technological innovation and economic growth significantly increase ecological footprint, and the impact of military expenditure is not significant. It is suggested that BRICS countries should focus on supporting low-carbon technology policies and research and development investment, while also considering the use of cutting-edge technology to improve military intelligence capabilities in order to reduce the negative impact of technological innovation and military activities on the environment.