Sustainable economy as a new globalization reality: Formation of disruptive trends toward Industry 4.0

Type of the article: Research ArticleProfound ecological and technological shifts are transforming the foundations of global development and redefining the trajectory of contemporary globalization. The study aims to investigate the role of the sustainable economy in shaping a new globalized development model in the context of disruptive technologies and Industry 4.0. The results demonstrate that sustainability and advanced digital-cyber-physical technologies act as mutually reinforcing drivers of structural change, enabling the transition toward circular production systems, intelligent resource management, and human-centered industrial paradigms. The study confirms that sustainability becomes the new logic of globalization, in which additive production, renewable energy, cyber-physical systems, and intelligent networks form disruptive trends reshaping political and economic relations. Recent market assessments indicate that the global Industry 4.0 sector has already reached a value of USD 180–200 billion, with projections ranging from USD 600–900 billion by 2034. Within a sample of developed economies, an increase in the Globalization Index by one point decreases the Sustainable Development Index by 0.68 points. The scientific novelty lies in the conceptualization of the sustainable economy through both classical and globalization approaches: the former focuses on additive, resource-efficient production, while the latter interprets sustainability as a new organizing logic of globalization that reshapes geopolitical interactions, redistributes technological power, and embeds ecological constraints into global governance. The study concludes that the sustainable economy represents a new globalization reality in which ecological principles, digital intelligence, and technological sovereignty jointly define long-term development trajectories.Acknowledgments The paper is prepared within the scientific research projects “Digital transformations to ensure civil protection and post-war economic recovery in the face of environmental and social challenges” (№0124U000549).