Digital Leviathan or Green Catalyst? Deconstructing the Mechanisms, Paradoxes, and Governance of the Global Green Trade Transformation

Abstract

This paper examines how digital technologies shape the systemic transformation of global green trade. It develops a three-dimensional framework—production, distribution, and market/governance—to show how digitalization acts not only as a tool but as a catalyst for structural change. At the production end, AI and big data foster green innovation; in distribution, blockchain and IoT build technical trust to reduce information asymmetry; at the governance level, digital platforms create feedback loops between market demand and regulatory pressure. Yet this transformation entails a “double-edged sword”: rising energy use, e-waste, and competition for critical minerals reveal the environmental footprint of digitalization, while the digital divide combined with green trade measures produces new “stacked barriers” for developing economies. Comparing the strategic paths of the EU, China, and the US, the study argues for coordinated, multi-level governance built on interoperable standards such as carbon accounting and the Digital Product Passport to promote inclusive and sustainable trade.