Digital Transformation and Sustainable Outcomes: An Updated Systematic Literature Review (2020–2026)
Downloads
A systematic review following the PRISMA guidelines, this study analyzes Scopus-indexed papers published from 2020 to 2026 in order to shed light on how digital transformation enables sustainability-oriented outcomes and whether these contributions seem rooted in organizational change rather than represent aspirational disclosures of sustainability-related information. In the initial search phase, a total of 1,208 records were identified; after screening, retrieval and eligibility assessment of these studies from both electronic databases and hand-searching, just 78 studies were included in the final synthesis. Our findings show that digital transformation drives sustainability in six main avenues—namely ESG governance, eco-innovation, decarbonization, circular economy practices, digital maturity and social sustainability. However, with digital transformation being identified as sustainability by other means, without appropriate organizational capabilities and data governance that include adequate data and analytics support for innovation routines, regulatory pressures and strategic decision-making processes to be adopted together at scale across an organization because they are complementary. Also, the review suggests that by relying heavily on a style of quantitative testing based on looking for associations between concepts in datasets empirically available, research suffers from conceptual inconsistencies and uneven coverage across empirical contexts. The review presents a new conceptualization for digital transformation as an enabler of sustainability, which comes with execution conditions and identifies future research agendas to distinguish genuine sustainability effects from the simple prominence of sustainability.
Chen, X., Song, Y., Hu, X., & Sun, G. (2025). Sustainability uncertainty and digital transformation: Evidence from corporate ESG rating divergence in China. Sustainability, 17(14). https://doi.org/10.3390/su17146515
Contreras, P., & Saavedra, B. (2023). Article 18—The right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion. In The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (pp. 423–444).
Ding, X., Sheng, Z., Appolloni, A., Shahzad, M., & Han, S. (2024). Digital transformation, ESG practice, and total factor productivity. Business Strategy and the Environment, 33(5), 4547–4561. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.3718
Ghanea, N., & Wiener, M. (2023). Freedoms of thought, conscience, religion or belief at 75. In Shaping a World of Freedoms (Vol. 75, pp. 1–17).
Gunner, G. (2023). Religious freedom as a human right. In Freedom of Religion and Religious Pluralism (pp. 79–100). Brill Nijhoff.
Hoang, V. H., Nguyen, A. T., & Nguyen, T. T. H. (2026). The digital pathway to sustainability: How green innovation translates digital transformation into ESG performance. SAGE Open, 16(2), 21582440261429030.
Huang, L., Abdo, A.-B., & Aljonaid, N. (2025). Digital transformation and carbon reduction in Chinese industrial enterprises: Mediating role of green innovation and moderating effects of ESG practices. Sustainability, 17(9). https://doi.org/10.3390/su17094050
Juliana, A. (2025). Guaranteeing the protection of the right to freedom of thought, religion and belief according to legal principles and good governance. At-Tasyrih: Jurnal Pendidikan dan Hukum Islam, 11(1), 240–244.
Lathifah, A., Munawaroh, L., Gunaryo, A., Masduki, A., & Hidayatulloh, M. A. (2025). Wahbah al-Zuhailî’s epistemology of the religious freedom concept: Between maqāṣid hifẓ al-dīn and human rights. Al-’Adalah, 22(2), 665–696.
Li, K., & Sutunyarak, C. (2024). An empirical research on ESG, digital transformation and firm value in China. Journal of Infrastructure, Policy and Development, 8(8). https://doi.org/10.24294/jipd.v8i8.7239
Liu, J., Song, R., & Fu, Y. (2025). Digital finance empowering corporate ESG performance: The dual-engine role of digital transformation and green technological innovation. Sustainability, 17(23). https://doi.org/10.3390/su172310743
Liu, Y., Kumar, S., Liu, H., Li, S., & Zhou, Z. (2025). ESG performance, digital transformation, and green innovation. Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 12(1). https://doi.org/10.1057/s41599-025-06027-9
Mert, S. T. (2022). Children’s religious education with reference to freedom of manifestation of belief in the European Union (Doctoral dissertation, Marmara Universitesi).
Miranda Gonçalves, R. (2023). The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe and the promotion and assistance to member states in the field of freedom of religion and belief. In Protection and Promotion of Freedom of Religions and Beliefs in the European Context (pp. 377–397). Springer.
Peng, Y., Chen, H., & Li, T. (2023). The impact of digital transformation on ESG: A case study of Chinese-listed companies. Sustainability, 15(20). https://doi.org/10.3390/su152015072
Sun, Q., Li, Y., & Hong, A. (2024). Integrating ESG into corporate strategy: Unveiling the moderating effect of digital transformation on green innovation through employee insights. Systems, 12(5). https://doi.org/10.3390/systems12050148
Sun, Y., Lu, Y., Wu, Y., Xu, C., & Davey, H. (2026). Synergizing ESG and digital transformation for corporate decarbonization. Business Strategy and the Environment, 35(2), 2581–2599. https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.70262
Wang, J. (2025). Digital transformation, environmental regulation and enterprises' ESG performance: Evidence from China. Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 32(2), 1567–1582. https://doi.org/10.1002/csr.3029
Wu, S., & Li, Y. (2023). A study on the impact of digital transformation on corporate ESG performance: The mediating role of green innovation. Sustainability, 15(8), 6568.
Xi, L., & Wang, H. (2024). The influence of green innovation and digital transformation on the high-quality development of enterprises: The mediating role of ESG management. Sustainability, 16(24). https://doi.org/10.3390/su162410923
Yin, N. (2025). Will digital transformation empower corporate ESG performance? Moderated mediation analysis through the prism of executives’ foreign experience. Polish Journal of Environmental Studies, 34(4), 3893–3907. https://doi.org/10.15244/pjoes/189714
Zhao, Q., Li, X., & Li, S. (2023). Analyzing the relationship between digital transformation strategy and ESG performance in large manufacturing enterprises: The mediating role of green innovation. Sustainability, 15(13). https://doi.org/10.3390/su15139998
Copyright (c) 2026 Indra Suteja, Purwanto Purwanto, Felix Siswanto
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
