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2025-12-25
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Copyright (c) 2025 Nathier Abas Ibrahim, Imad Obaid Jasim, Muhaimen Ismail Kadhem Lawas, Husam Najm Abbood Al-Bayati, Khalid Waleed Nassar Almansoori , Mykhailo Reznikov

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How to Cite
State Sovereignty in the Digital Era Implications for Environmental Governance
Nathier Abas Ibrahim
Al-Turath University, Baghdad 10013, Iraq
Imad Obaid Jasim
Al-Mansour University College, Baghdad 10067, Iraq
Muhaimen Ismail Kadhem Lawas
Al-Mamoon University College, Baghdad 10012, Iraq
Husam Najm Abbood Al-Bayati
Al-Rafidain University College, Baghdad 10064, Iraq
Khalid Waleed Nassar Almansoori
Madenat Alelem University College, Baghdad 10006, Iraq
Mykhailo Reznikov
Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv 03058, Ukraine
DOI: https://doi.org/10.59429/esp.v10i12.3986
Keywords: digital sovereignty; environmental governance; blockchain; decentralization; cross-border compliance; regulatory frameworks; cybersecurity; legal harmonization.
Abstract
The development of digital technologies is challenging the principles of the state sovereignty and environmental regulation. Moreover, cross-border dynamics of the digital flow of data, decentralized compliance systems, and new cybersecurity issues make the use of traditional methods difficult. This article looks at how digitalization has affected state sovereignty with particular consideration on the governance of the environment. It examines whether and in what ways digital tools can become effective and more transparent in the governance system, identifies the dangers of sovereignty and possible ways to bring the international law systems closer to one another. The research design adopted in the study is a mixed-methods research design, which combines semi-structured interviews with policymakers (n = 15), a comparative legal analysis, and controlled experiments using blockchain-based environmental compliance systems, which allows triangulation of governance perceptions, legal-institutional structures, and quantitative performance indicators. The mathematical models to measure the relationship between the decentralization, enforcement efficiency and governance efficiency have been developed using the models. The findings indicate that digital tools result in the accurate data, reduced compliance costs and collaboration of cooperation of countries around the environment. Qualitative data also reveal that policymakers tend to see digitalization as a restructuring and more than a destruction of sovereignty, and at the same time voice conditional faith in digital compliance regimes that rely on state-based regulation, legal responsibility and harmonization of regulations across borders. This enhanced the efficacy of this enforcement by 24%, though it necessitated modifications in the current legal frameworks to maintain the authority over decentralized digital networks. The role of digitalization on environmental governance transparency, efficiency and monitoring in environmental governance. Digitalization is associated with environmental governance in a clear fashion. Nevertheless, it does not stretch the envelope of the sovereignty models and will demand new legal frameworks, international standards and methods of governing. International collaboration and agile digital infrastructure should now be used in future efforts in the case of these new challenges.
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