In this study, we examine the effect of export quality upgrading through evolution of energy mix and transportation on environmental sustainability using panel cointegration techniques. Utilizing a dataset of East Asia and Pacific countries, we find that the export quality amelioration of goods and services tends to increase the carbon-produced intensity. Economically, a 1% rise in the export quality index could surge CO2 emissions by 0.71%. However, such a relationship is nonlinear as reflected through an inverted U-shaped linkage between export quality and environmental performance, i.e., evolution in energy use, economic growth, transportation and trade openness can reduce CO2 emissions when it reaches a certain threshold. The main results survive when we re-estimate all models by substituting production-based CO2 emissions by Consumption Emissions and Economic Complexity Index of Hidalgo and Haussmann.