Metaverse as driver of environmental sustainability : a systematic review and meta-analysis

Abstract

Awareness of climate change and environmental sustainability issues are significantly growing around the globe. Every sector, including society, government, and non-government organizations, is continuously demanding more responsibility for the environmental, social, and economic impacts triggered by new innovations and technologies. These ingenious technologies are crucial for the development of products, services, and processes. As these technologies grow in importance, the focus on environmental sustainability is equally growing. In recent years, technology like the "metaverse" has seen a rise in use and is playing a crucial role in environmental subjects as a potential tool to inform and engage users with present and future environmental issues. However, research on the potential of metaverse technology for environmental sustainability is still in the initial stages, and there is no clear synthesis of the methods studied in this field. In response to these negative effects, the United Nations has established 17 sustainability goals which are expected to be met by 2030.

This field of study aims to accelerate and achieve environmental sustainability with the help of metaverse technology. Metaverse is drawing the same attention that the internet received during its initial era when it was a new and evolving technology. Similarly, the metaverse is still a long way from mainstream adoption and is constantly evolving. Presently, these technologies have impacted every sector, with some of the most affected areas being smart cities, education, healthcare, travel, logistics, and manufacturing. Taking into account the importance of these metaverse technologies and their expected impact on environmental sustainability in the future, the author has conducted a systematic literature review (SLR) to investigate their driving force. By searching three major bibliographic databases, 783 articles related to the topic were identified, and 29 of these studies were selected as primary studies.

A strong positive relationship between metaverse technologies and securing the environmental aspects of sustainability was observed. Although the results specify that the number of literature exploring the metaverse in environmental sustainability is growing, empirical evidence of its impact is limited. Based on the author's analyses, thematic, theoretical, and methodological knowledge gaps were identified. While Virtual Reality (VR) being the most widely used technology, the study highlights the importance of combining different metaverse technologies to improve environmental sustainability performance and emphasizes the role of these technologies as an educational tool to promote sustainable consumption. The results also underscore the metaverse´s potential to contribute to various SDGs, particularly SDGs 6,7,8,11,12,13, and 14, by enabling sustainable solutions, green technology, renewable energy, sustainable urban development, responsible consumption and production, and conservation of life below water. The study provides vital guidelines for ensuring a sustainable environment by assessing and adopting new innovative technologies.