Digitalization and carbon footprint: Building a path to a sustainable economic growth

Abstract

Digitalization is a primary driver of sustainable development. We investigate the impact of digitalization on the carbon footprints of the (national) government sector, households, enterprises, non-governmental organizations, and imported carbon footprints. We use panel data analysis to study the link between digitalization and sustainable economic growth by monitoring digital carbon footprint patterns. Our study results show that digitalization has a positive and statistically significant impact on sustainability development measured by the sustainable development goals (SDG). Furthermore, our results support the hypothesis that advancing total factor productivity, referring to green total factor productivity, is critical for meeting SDGs. Notably, we determine that the ecological footprint across sectors and countries is diverging, or at best, slowly converging at a pace that is not even close to that required to meet the 2030 SDGs. Therefore, policymakers and practitioners must strategically revise sustainability policies to ensure industrial and economic transition and adaptability to climate change and advance economic green growth and sustainable development.