Digital transformation and environmental sustainability: reviewing the role of human capital

Purpose This study aims to explore the intersection of digital transformation (DT) and environmental sustainability (ES) by examining the evolving role of employees as key stakeholders in enabling sustainable organizational transitions. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative systematic literature review (SLR) was conducted, synthesizing 61 peer-reviewed journal articles retrieved from the Scopus database. A thematic analysis approach was used to identify recurring patterns, conceptual categories and critical insights at the nexus of DT, ES and human capital involvement. Findings The SLR identified five key thematic clusters: workforce adaptation to digital and green transformations, employee engagement in green and digital strategies, digital knowledge and learning for sustainability, employee-driven innovation and employee well-being in green digital workplaces. The findings highlight employees’ behaviors, skills and innovation as key enablers of sustainable digital transitions. Research limitations/implications The review is limited to English-language journal articles indexed in Scopus, which may exclude relevant insights from other sources or languages. Practical implications Findings offer actionable guidance for organizational leaders, human resource (HR) practitioners and policymakers to design inclusive and sustainable digital strategies. Originality/value To translate the research findings into meaningful insights that may guide the future research direction, the present paper presents the contribution in two folds: (1) proposed integrative framework which can be used and explored further such that the proposed insights are converted into tangible actions and (2) theme-based future research directions which can be evaluated further to expand the horizons of the research field.