Implications of circular economy, digitalization and technological innovation to achieve sustainable environmental goal: Pre and post-vision 2030

Abstract

The current study contributes to the existing literature by constructing a digitalization index to investigate the significance of digitalization in controlling the environmental footprint. Moreover, the dataset is divided into pre-Vision 2030 and post-Vision 2030 implementation to scrutinize the progress of Saudi Vision 2030 to counter the environmental challenges. Vision 2030 is a strategic framework to reduce Saudi Arabia's dependence on oil, diversify its economy, and develop public service sectors such as health, education, infrastructure, recreation, and tourism. The findings have documented the negative coefficients for post-Vision 2030 and post-COVID-19 estimations, reflecting that a significant digitalization increase is useful for controlling the environmental externalities in Saudi Arabia. In the case of post-Vision 2030, the role of environmental technology turns out to be significant and negative, but with a lower magnitude. The study results are useful for drawing significant environmental policies through enhancing the digitalization parameters and advancement of technology.