Li Junwen

60388976800

Publications - 1

Leveraging Forest Resources, Green Energy, and Digitalization: Contextual Evidence Apropos Sustainable Growth in the Lens of Climate Resilience Policies

Publication Name: Land Degradation and Development

Publication Date: 2026-05-30

Volume: 37

Issue: 9

Page Range: 4411-4425

Description:

Sustainable forest landscape, digitalization, and green energy are the core pillars of the European Union's policies to achieve sustainable growth; however, their impacts are divergent due to variant regional forest management policies, economic structures, and digital transformation. This study contributes to the literature by uniquely evaluating the asymmetric impacts of forest access, green energy, and digitalization on sustainable growth across the EU countries from 1991 to 2022. It introduces the moderating role of digitalization on forest access, a dimension that has been unexplored previously. This analysis employs the method of moments quantile regression (MMQR) to address the slope heterogeneity and cross-sectional problems. The outcomes exhibit that green energy and digitalization are the drivers of sustainable growth, while their effects are pronounced at higher and lower growth quantiles, respectively. In contrast, forest access inhibits economic sustainability, with larger impacts realized in high-growth economies. The interaction term indicates that the applications of digital technologies in the forest landscape significantly support sustainable growth. The robustness analysis confirms the consistency of regression outcomes. These insights offer novel implications for EU climate and digital policy integration under the Green Deal and REPower EU agenda.

Open Access: Yes

DOI: 10.1002/ldr.70413