Digitalization and Sustainable Industrial Low-Carbon Transformation: Synergistic Effects, Policy Tools, Technical Pathways, and Financial Innovation

In the context of the growing urgency of sustainable industrial transformation under global climate goals, this study examines how digitalization enables and amplifies industrial low-carbon transition through the synergistic interaction of policy tools, technological pathways, and financial innovation. Addressing the challenge of reconciling emissions reduction with industrial efficiency, the study employs a mixed-method approach that combines panel econometric analysis of manufacturing enterprises in China’s Yangtze River Delta with representative case studies. The empirical results demonstrate significant synergistic effects among policy, technology, and finance under digital enablement. Coordinated policy instruments, including emissions trading and green credit, reduce decarbonization costs by 18–23%, while digitally enabled mechanisms such as Zhejiang’s “Carbon Efficiency Code” lower carbon intensity by over 15% for nearly half of participating firms. Technological pathways exhibit sectoral heterogeneity: digital twin optimization reduces emissions by 12% in the steel industry, whereas IoT-based monitoring cuts energy consumption by 9.7% in textiles. Financial innovations further reinforce these outcomes by increasing green R&D intensity and enhancing firms’ climate risk resilience. From a sustainability perspective, the study shows that digitalization strengthens real-time carbon measurement, monitoring, and verification (MRV), thereby improving sustainability performance assessment and governance effectiveness. By integrating digital tools with policy and financial incentives, the findings provide actionable guidance for supporting sustainable industrial operations and designing more precise, scalable, and data-driven sustainability-oriented policy instruments.