Navigating G20 's Green Transition: The Triple Interplay of Digitalization, Fintech, and Trade on Resource Sustainability
Abstract
As the core platform for global economic governance, the green transformation of the G‐20 countries is of vital importance to global sustainable development. This study, based on panel data from 1990 to 2023 and using a second‐generation econometric method, examines the impact of five factors—digitalization, fintech, trade openness, industrial growth, and per capita income—on the sustainability of natural resources. The findings are as follows: (1) Digitalization intensifies resource dependence, resulting in a “digital rebound effect”, with the transmission channel being the stimulation of consumer demand; (2) Fintech has the potential for “resource conservation” but the effect varies by country, with the transmission channel being green investment promotion; (3) Trade openness and industrial growth inhibit resource rents, verifying the environmental Kuznets curve from the resource perspective; (4) The interaction between digitalization and fintech, and between digitalization and trade openness generates a “doubled rebound effect”; (5) The impact of each factor varies systematically between developed and developing countries, as well as between emerging markets and non‐emerging markets. It is recommended that the G‐20 implement a comprehensive strategy integrating green digitalization, sustainable fintech, and clean industrial upgrading.