Digitalization as a Driver of Climate Resilience? A Panel Model Analysis in European Countries (2018–2024)

As climate change intensifies environmental and governance challenges worldwide, digital transformation and human capital development have emerged as important pathways for strengthening climate resilience, adaptive capacity, and sustainable governance systems. This study analyses the determinants of climate resilience and the temporal effects of global shocks on climate resilience across 18 European countries (2018–2024) using data from the World Bank, the Worldwide Governance Indicators, and the Notre Dame Global Adaptation Initiative (ND-GAIN) database, utilizing a fixed-effects panel regression model. The results indicate that government effectiveness and higher education have a significant and positive association with climate resilience in this order of magnitude. Specifically, government effectiveness reflects the strongest positive relationship to resilience, while higher education strengthens adaptive capacity by fostering human capital, innovation, and climate awareness. In contrast, internet access, digital public services and urbanization showed statistically insignificant relationships, demonstrating that digital availability alone does not automatically drive resilience. GDP per capita was negatively associated with resilience but also lacked statistical significance, indicating that economic growth alone cannot guarantee climate adaptability. Overall, the findings emphasize that strong institutions and human capital, rather than economic growth or basic digitalization alone, drive Europe’s climate resilience, suggesting that integrated governance and education strategies are necessary to ensure long-term climate adaptation capacity.