The impact of e-commerce on environmental sustainability targets in selected European countries

E-commerce plays a crucial role in the digital economy. E-commerce can reduce costs and boost economic growth. Therefore, the global rate of E-commerce is increasing very fast, which has implications for the digital economy. This study analyses the impact of e-commerce on environmental sustainability. The empirical analysis employed OLS, 2SLS, GMM, and panel quantile regression methods using panel data of 10 European economies spanning over 2002-2019. Carbon emissions and GHG emissions measure environmental sustainability. The results from OLS, 2SLS and GMM show that e-commerce negatively impacts carbon emissions. The panel quantile regression results also show that e-commerce negatively impacts carbon emissions at the middle and higher quantiles. This study recommends that environmental sustainability programs pay attention to policies encouraging e-commerce.