在全球面臨氣候變遷與數位經濟快速發展的背景下，「經濟數位化」與「環境永續」之間可能存在潛在衝突，譬如：雲端運算、資料中心與資通訊設備所造成的能源與碳排負擔，在全球已是備受矚目的議題。如何兼顧經濟數位化與環境永續，是各國政策制定的關鍵課題之一。本研究旨在探討國家（或經濟體）層級的數位化程度與碳排放之關聯性，並進一步分析能源轉型效率是否具有調節效果。本研究以瑞士洛桑國際管理發展學院所發布之「世界數位競爭力排名」與其三大因素（科技環境、知識基礎和未來就緒性）衡量數位化程度，並採用世界經濟論壇所制定之「能源轉型指標」作為能源轉型效率之代理變數。
本研究實證資料涵蓋 2017 至 2023 年間共59個國家資料，並採用固定效果模型進行分析，以控制潛在各國家之異質性與時間效應。結果顯示，知識基礎因素水準與碳排放呈顯著負相關，表示在跨國資料中，數位化程度之知識基礎與人力品質為減碳的主要驅動因子；而未來就緒性因素水準則暗示與碳排可能具有正相關性，反映數位應用越好的國家碳排放可能就會越高。此外，能源轉型效率對數位化程度與碳排放之關係具顯著調節作用，能強化數位化程度與未來就緒性因素之減碳效果或削弱其增碳風險。而根據製造業比例進行分組的額外測試結果顯示，高製造業的國家整體數位化程度與未來就緒性因素水準越高碳排放就越高，且更依賴能源轉型效率之調節效果。
本研究之主要貢獻包括：第一，有別於其他文獻以資通訊科技作為數位化程度之衡量，首度以世界數位競爭力全面檢視國家整體數位化程度與其三因素面對碳排放之異質性影響；第二，納入能源轉型效率作為調節因子，揭示數位化與碳排放關係之條件依賴性；第三，進一步針對不同製造業發展程度國家進行分組比較，提供更具針對性的結果啟示。研究結果將有助於理解數位轉型與低碳發展之整合潛力，並為全球邁向低碳經轉型提供實證基礎。

This study examines the relationship between national digitalization and carbon emissions, and the moderating role of energy transition efficiency. Digitalization is measured by the IMD World Digital Competitiveness Ranking and its three dimensions, while the World Economic Forum’s Energy Transition Index proxies energy transition efficiency. Using panel data for 59 countries (2017–2023) and fixed-effects models, results show that the Knowledge dimension reduces emissions, whereas Future Readiness may increase them. Energy transition efficiency significantly moderates these effects. In high-manufacturing economies, higher digitalization and Future Readiness are linked to greater emissions, with stronger reliance on energy transition efficiency. The findings highlight the heterogeneous carbon impacts of digitalization and the conditional role of energy transition in fostering low-carbon growth.

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