Digital Trade Integration and the Green Transition: The Moderating Role of Energy Equity in a Global Panel Analysis

In recent years, digital trade integration has emerged as a potentially important factor influencing the global green transition through the cross-border diffusion of renewable technologies and smart energy systems. Nevertheless, its usefulness in expediting the adoption of renewable energy is still unclear, especially at a time when the world is facing increasing electricity needs to support digital infrastructure and address long-range energy inequities. This study examines whether the environmental effects of digital trade integration depend on energy equity using a balanced panel of 71 economies from 2002 to 2023. The analysis employs several panel econometric techniques, including fixed effects, FMOLS, DOLS, System GMM, and the Dumitrescu–Hurlin panel causality test. The findings indicate (i) a Granger-causality relationship between digital trade integration and the green transition; (ii) a significant positive interaction effect, suggesting a “justice threshold” where higher energy equity strengthens the impact of digital trade on renewable energy adoption; and (iii) much stronger synergies in the middle and low-income economies, which supports a leapfrog hypothesis. These outcomes indicate that digital trade may speed up the adoption of renewable energy in case of fair access to energy. To ensure that the global green transition occurring in digital trade systems is inclusive and just, the paper can give viable policy suggestions to the implementation of energy equity.