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China has always tried to maintain multilateralism and advocated working together to deal with global climate change through multilateral mechanisms. Although China’s announcement to peak its carbon emissions by 2030 comes as no surprise, its commitment to carbon neutrality does. As the period between its carbon peaking and carbon neutrality is far shorter than that in the developed countries, China’s economic and energy structures need to be adjusted toward the low-carbon and carbon-free end with unprecedented efforts. To that end, China should define the responsibilities of local authorities and industrial entities to promote the orderly accomplishment of carbon peaking in all regions and industries. To supply the huge investments needed to achieve the goals of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality, China has an urgent need to accelerate the development of green finance and a national carbon emissions trading market, guide the rational allocation of resources, and channel resources to eco-friendly projects for green and low-carbon development. At the same time, China and the international community should strengthen dialogue and coordination, promote international cooperation on the way to carbon neutrality, formulate widely acceptable policy guidelines as soon as possible, and avoid unilateral measures that may cause conflicts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emissions are critical to climate change, and land-use change is an essential source of growth in carbon emissions. Research on land-use carbon emissions has become one of the hotspots in academic research. To explore the research hotspots and development trends of land-use carbon emissions in the last 20 years, CiteSpace software was used to conduct a quantitative analysis of relevant literature. This paper was based on the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) and Web of Science (WoS) database literature on land-use carbon emissions from 2001 to 2020. The scientific research cooperation network CiteSpace software, with keyword co-occurrence, clustering, and burst word detection, was used to systematically analyze the main research strengths, hotspots and frontiers and clarify the research progress. The research results are as follows: (1) the amount of literature and the depth of research on land-use carbon emissions have increased yearly. However, there is little cooperation between research institutions and scholars, and there is still a lack of large-scale and stable research teams. (2) At the research hotspot level, the English literature focuses on building models and theoretical frameworks to study the internal mechanisms and driving factors of carbon emissions and climate change. The Chinese literature focuses on achieving regional carbon emissions reductions and carbon cycle goals and optimizing a low-carbon economy, transportation and land-use structure. (3) Research frontiers and trends show that the English literature first explored carbon sequestration, organic carbon, and carbon accounting. In China, the research frontiers are gradually becoming focused on influencing factors, decoupling analysis, and the built environment. The study will strengthen the intensity and depth of global carbon emission research and provide a reference for improving global climate change, protecting ecology and balancing economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The serious consequences of climate warming have increasingly become a globe agenda in recent decades. China has been actively participating in various initiatives to address global climate change and has made commitments to reduce carbon emissions. Although the logistics industry is regarded as the "new driving force of national economic development", its carbon intensity is relatively high. Therefore, whether the logistics industry can develop in a green and low-carbon way is very crucial. This paper takes the green logistics efficiency of China's provincial logistics industry as the research object. The Super-SBM model is used to measure the China's green logistics efficiency, then the general dynamic characteristics is depicted by kernel density analysis. With the GML (Global Malmquist-Luenberger) index model, the reasons for the changes in green logistics efficiency are explained. Finally, Moran's I index is used to analyze the spatial correlation of green logistics efficiency in each province. The results show that the green logistics efficiency in China is at a low level, but with an upward trend. China's green logistics efficiency has a significant positive spatial correlation, showing a zonal pattern of high in the east and low in the west, and a polarization phenomenon. In addition, the bottleneck of the overall development of green logistics efficiency in China depends on the level of green technology. Furthermore, the results also imply that green technology advancement is an inherent key factor for green logistics efficiency to achieve growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global value chain has introduced profound changes in international trade, economic development, and technology progress as well as greenhouse gas emissions worldwide. This paper investigated the impact of the global value chain and technological innovation on greenhouse gas emissions by introducing a partially linear functional-coefficient model based on panel data of 15 industrial sectors in China from 2000 to 2020. Moreover, the greenhouse gas emission trends of China's industrial sectors from 2024 to 2035 were predicted using the autoregressive integrated moving average model. The results showed that (1) Greenhouse gas emissions were affected negatively by global value chain position and independent innovation. Nevertheless, foreign innovation had the opposite effect. (2) The results of the partially linear functional-coefficient model implied that the inhibitory effect of independent innovation on GHG emissions decreased with an improvement in the global value chain position. (3) The positive effect of foreign innovation on greenhouse gas emissions increased and then, decreased as the global value chain position improved. (4) The prediction results indicated that greenhouse gas emissions will continue on an upward trend from 2024 to 2035, while industrial carbon dioxide emissions should peak at 10.21 Gt in 2028. This carbon-peaking goal would be achieved in China's industrial sector by actively improving the global value chain position. Addressing these issues will enable China to take full advantage of the development opportunities of participating in the global value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To better address climate change and environmental pollution, it is of great practical significance to comprehensively evaluate the impact of low-carbon energy transition policies on carbon emission reduction. This paper conducts a policy quantitative evaluation of low-carbon energy transition policies from three dimensions: policy intensity, policy objective, and policy instrument. On this basis, the ridge regression model is used to analyze the carbon emission reduction effect of policies. The results show that (1) changes in policy quantities mainly cause the evolution of total policy effectiveness. The government's emphasis on low-carbon energy transition has fluctuated. (2) The two policy objectives of optimizing the use of fossil energy and developing a low-carbon concept are less synergistic with other policy objectives and neither has a significant impact on carbon reduction. (3) The government prefers to adopt command control policy instruments, but their actual carbon emission reduction effects are inferior to that of economic incentive policy instruments. These findings can provide a decision-making basis for the government to further formulate and optimize policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As global climate change becomes increasingly severe, energy technology innovation has become a key means of coping with the climate crisis and realizing green and low-carbon development. However, existing literature rarely examines the effects of carbon emission reduction policies based on the perspective of energy technology progress for both short-term economic fluctuations and long-term equilibrium. This paper introduces the fossil energy technology sector and the renewable energy technology sector into the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE) model, and compares the effectiveness of the carbon emission cap policy, the fossil energy technology subsidy policy, and the renewable energy technology subsidy policy under the framework of China's carbon trading market in promoting macroeconomic growth and controlling pollutant emissions. We found that in long-term, the emission reduction effect of the carbon emission cap policy falls short of the other two policies, and subsidizing fossil fuel technologies is more cost-efficient comparatively. The government expenditure shock can all stimulate macroeconomic growth with crowding out of private investment and household consumption, whereas the energy technology research productivity shock leads to a decline in total output and an increase in renewable energy technology demand. In addition, pollutant emissions are pro-cyclical under the impact of total carbon policies and counter-cyclical under the impact of energy technology subsidy policies. This article constructs a multi-technology sectoral dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model, expanding the research perspective and theoretical framework for evaluating carbon emission reduction policies. At the same time, it proves the importance of the government to implement the phased energy technology subsidy policy while implementing the carbon emission cap policy, which provides important enlightenment for the implementation and adjustment of carbon emission reduction policy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Exploring the complex relationship between population change and surface urban heat island (SUHI) effect has important practical significance for the ecological transformation development of shrinking cities in the context of the prevalence of urban shrinkage and the global climate change. This paper compares the population change and SUHI effect between population shrinking region (Northeast Region, NR) and population growing region (Yangtze River Delta, YRD) in China, and explores their differences in driving mechanisms, using GIS spatial analysis and Geodetector model. Our results indicated that there are significant differences in population changes and SUHI intensity between these two regions. About 72.22% of the cities in the NR were shrinking, while their SUHI intensities increased by an average of 1.69°C. On the contrary, the urban population in the YRD shows a linear growth trend, while their SUHI intensities decreased by 0.11°C on average. The results of bivariate Moran's I index also indicated that the spatial correlation between the urban population changes and the SUHI intensity changes are not significant in the above regions. Furthermore, there are significant differences in the primary drivers of SUHI variations between these two regions. In the NR, underlying surface changes, including the changes of green coverage and built-up areas, are the most important driving factors. However, atmospheric environment changes, such as carbon dioxide emission and sulfur dioxide emission, are the key drivers in the YRD. Northam's theory of three-stage urbanization and environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis are powerful to explain these differences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) in 2020, China put forward the goal of peaking carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieving carbon neutrality by 2060, a move to lead global response to climate change that has attracted wide attention and hot comments at home and abroad. Therefore, it is of great practical significance and academic value to explore ways of achieving carbon peaking ahead of schedule and study the macroeconomic effect. This paper, based on Energy, Environment and Economy recursive dynamic computable general equilibrium model (TECGE), a dynamic computable general equilibrium model, carries out a quantitative analysis of the effect of strengthening carbon peaking commitment on China’s future macro economy. By setting up four scenarios, namely carbon peaking of 10.8 billion tons, 10.7 billion tons, 10.58 billion tons and 10.36 billion tons in 2030, 2027, 2025, and 2023, it examines the effects of carbon peaking ahead of schedule and carbon peaking in 2030 on macro economy. The findings show that, compared with the 2030 benchmark, the more ahead of schedule carbon peaking is achieved, the higher the carbon tax prices, and that though GDP and other macroeconomic variables, such as aggregate consumption, aggregate imports and exports decline, the share of the tertiary industry increases. That is, the more ahead of schedule carbon peaking is achieved, the more macroeconomic variables decline, and the more the share of the tertiary industry rises. This paper, using computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to conduct a quantitative analysis of the macroeconomic effect, makes policy recommendations for carbon peaking ahead of schedule and high-quality economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The world is facing the challenges of climate change and energy structure adjustments. The role of digital finance, a new branch of business that combines digital technology and traditional financial products, in reducing global carbon emissions needs to be studied. This paper uses panel data on 280 cities in China from 2011 to 2019 to empirically examine the efficacy of digital finance for governing carbon emission reductions and the mechanism by which it does so. The results show that (1) digital finance can facilitate carbon emission reductions and help reduce carbon emission intensity within regions; (2) digital finance helps promote the rational allocation of resources and alleviates factor distortions by encouraging firms to rationally use their own factor endowments so as to reduce carbon emission intensity, which holds robustly after considering the endogenous issues such as possibly omitting variables and collinearity; and (3) differences in geographical location, the vitality of regional innovation and entrepreneurship, regional willingness to protect the environment, and environmental protection levels lead to heterogeneity in the effect of digital finance on carbon emission intensity. Therefore, it is necessary to vigorously develop digital finance as a long-term tool for carbon governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a novel aviation CO 2 emissions reduction method by introducing a market-based incentive mechanism. An aviation carbon emissions prediction model is proposed to characterize both the microscopic flight dynamics and the macroscopic air traffic demand trend. Based on emissions prediction, a linear climate response model is applied to evaluate the environmental impact of the aviation carbon emissions. Finally, a market-based framework for aviation CO 2 emissions reduction is established based on a two-phase carbon trading model, which provides a piecewise charge method through emission taxation and cap-and-trade. A case study is carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed framework using a real-world dataset from the Hefei Air Traffic Control Zone in China. Three scenarios are defined to describe the possible development speed of sustainable aviation fuel application in the future: not applied, medium-speed development, and high-speed development. The results show that the carbon peak will be reached in 2025 in the high-speed development scenario, when the emission amount and associated environmental impact will be reduced by 23.7% and 22.3%, respectively. Thus, the market-based framework proposed in this paper can effectively reduce aviation CO 2 emissions and mitigate the effects of global warming. • An aviation CO 2 emissions prediction model is proposed considering both microscopic flight dynamics and macroscopic traffic demand. • A more efficient market-based CO 2 emission reduction framework is developed based on a two-phase carbon trading model by means of taxation and cap-and-trade. • Case study shows that the proposed method has a more optimal incentive for CO 2 emission reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of global climate change is a common problem faced by all countries, and developing countries will face heavier pressure to reduce carbon emissions while promoting economic development. China is currently in a period of economic transformation, and the contradiction of industrial structure upgrading is becoming more and more prominent. The unreasonable industrial structure has caused a large consumption of resources, hindering the optimal allocation of resources and affecting carbon emissions. Technological innovation is an important force to cope with environmental changes, promote economic growth, and improve comprehensive competitiveness. Can technological innovation achieve carbon emission reduction under industrial structure upgrading? In this paper, industrial structure upgrading, technological innovation, and carbon emissions are studied together, and the impact of industrial structure upgrading, technological innovation on carbon emissions is theoretically analyzed, as well as how industrial structure upgrading acts on carbon emissions through technological innovation. An empirical test is conducted using 30 provincial panel data in China from 2005 to 2017, and it is found that industrial structure upgrading can reduce carbon emissions. An econometric analysis based on the mediating effect model finds that industrial structure upgrading has both a direct carbon emission reduction effect and a mediating effect of reducing carbon emissions through technological innovation, and the mediating effect of technological innovation in reducing carbon emissions remains significant in the regression analysis of sub-regions. Based on the research of this paper, it is suggested that the advanced development of industrial structure should be promoted, the rationalization of industrial structure should be promoted, the innovation development strategy should be firmly implemented, and the level of technological innovation should be promoted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve carbon peak targets, realize carbon neutrality vision, and tackle global climate change, China must improve the carbon emission performance at the city level. Based on the carbon emission performance of 191 prefecture-level cities in China from 1997 to 2017, this paper analyses the evolution characteristics of urban carbon emission performance from three aspects: the overall spatial and temporal evolution, the differences according to both region and city size, and the differences among clusters categorized by carbon emission performance at the city level. This paper also reveals the impact of the social and economic transition on China's carbon emission performance. The results show that: (1) The overall level of carbon emission performance of Chinese cities is low, and there is a downward trend during the study period. The differences in carbon emission performance among cities are convergent, but there is a wide gap between high and low values. (2) The carbon emission performance of cities in eastern coastal areas is higher than that in non-coastal areas cities. Large urban agglomerations and economically developed regions, such as provincial capitals, are the agglomeration areas of high urban carbon emission performance values. (3) The carbon emission performance level of cities with similar sizes will converge. At the same time, such changes will enhance the differences among carbon emission performances at the city level within the same region. (4) Cities that belong to high urban carbon emission performance clusters are mainly distributed in the eastern region. Such cities are classified into large cities, supercities, and megacities. Compared with low urban carbon emission performance clusters, cities in high urban carbon emission performance clusters show a higher proportion in the medium-high level and high level of carbon emission performance. Moreover, cities in high urban carbon emission performance clusters are more likely to improve theirurban carbon emission performance. (5) The economic agglomeration effect, industrial structure adjustment and carbon intensity reduction have a significant impact on improving urban carbon emission performance. Population agglomeration has an incremental effect, and the anticipated benefits of environmental regulation have yet to be fully realized. The impacts of different clusters and different regions are variable. Finally, this paper advances policy enlightenment according to its research findings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government has established carbon emissions trading schemes (CETS) to cope with climate change and reduce carbon emissions. This paper uses the multi-period difference in difference (DID) model to explore the impact of CETS on cities' GDP and GDP growth rates in China based on data from 285 prefecture-level cities from 2008–2019. We find that CETS increase the level of GDP by 3.4% and the GDP growth rate by 0.004. The mechanism of increasing GDP includes promoting investment and innovation, and the mechanism of increasing the GDP growth rate includes only promoting the investment growth rate. Thus, CETS satisfy both the weak and strong versions of the Porter Hypothesis from the GDP and growth rate perspectives. In the heterogeneity analysis, we find that the impacts of CETS on cities' GDP and GDP growth rates decrease with the increase of the corresponding dependent variable. In the spatial spillover analysis, we find that the establishment of CETS has a positive spillover effect on the GDP of cities around 50 km and 150 km, and a negative spillover effect on the GDP of cities around 200 km, but there is no spatial spillover effect on the GDP growth rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Chinese government continues to contribute to tackling the global climate challenge and plans to continue lowering carbon emissions in the transportation infrastructure field. The comprehensive assessment of the impact of carbon emissions is mainly focused on high-speed railways (HSRs). This paper proposes a life-cycle cost considering carbon emissions (LCCCCE) model for HSR projects, which consists of a general life-cycle cost (GLCC) model and a quantified carbon emissions cost (CEC) model. The Beijing-Shanghai HSR is employed as a case study, in which the LCCCCE and sensitivity of carbon emission factors are analyzed using the proposed methodology. The results show that the LCCCCE of the Beijing-Shanghai HSR is 64.56 billion USD, and that its CEC is 1.04 billion USD, which contributes 1.61% to the LCCCCE. Thus, the LCCCCE analysis of HSRs or transportation infrastructure projects is an effective methodology to quantify the impacts of carbon emissions in China and around the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a global problem facing mankind, and achieving peak CO2 emissions and carbon neutrality is an important task for China to respond to global climate change. The quantitative evaluation of the trends of urban energy consumption and carbon emissions is a premise for achieving this goal. Therefore, from the perspective of urban expansion, this paper analyzes the complex relationship between the mutual interactions and feedback between urban population, land expansion, economic growth, energy structure and carbon emissions. STELLA simulation software is used to establish a system dynamics model of urban-level carbon emissions effects, and Changsha city is used for the case study. The simulated outputs of energy consumption and carbon emissions cover the period from 1949 to 2016. From 1949 to 2016, Changsha's total energy consumption and carbon emissions per capita have continuously grown. The total carbon emissions increased from 0.66 Mt-CO2 to 60.95 Mt-CO2, while the per capita carbon emissions increased from 1.73 t-CO2/10,000 people to 18.3 Mt-CO2/10,000 people. The analysis of the structure of carbon emissions shows that the industrial sector accounted for the largest proportion of emissions, but it had gradually dropped from between 60% and 70% to about 40%. The carbon emissions of residential and commercial services accounted for less than 25%, and the proportion of transportation carbon emissions fluctuated greatly in 2013 and 2016. From the perspective of carbon emissions effects, carbon emissions per unit of GDP had a clear downward trend, from 186.11 t-CO2/CNY104 to 1.33 t-CO2/CNY104, and carbon emissions per unit of land showed two inflection points: one in 1961 and the other in 1996. The general trend showed an increase first, followed by a decrease, then a stabilization. There is a certain linear correlation between the compactness of urban shape and the overall trend of carbon emissions intensity, while the urban shape index has no linear correlation with the growth rate of carbon emissions. The carbon emissions assessment model constructed in this paper can be used by other municipalities, and the assessment results can provide guidance for future energy planning and decision making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The excessive carbon emissions not only intensify the global climate change, but also seriously restrict the sustainable development of social economy. However, improving industrial carbon emissions efficiency is the most directly effective way to reduce emissions. Therefore, accurate measurement and analysis of carbon emissions efficiency and evolution characteristics of China's industrial system is the basis for China to improve carbon emissions efficiency. Based on this, we adopted energy consumption method and input-output method to calculate and analyze the industrial carbon emissions efficiency and evolution characteristics of China from 2002 to 2015. The results show that (1) If carbon emissions from cement production are ignored and only energy-related carbon emissions are considered, the calculation results of carbon emissions efficiency of heavy industry will be overestimated about 30%. (2) Compared with 2002, China's industrial carbon emissions efficiency increased by about twice in 2015. Specifically, the optimization of carbon emissions efficiency in agriculture, construction, light industry and service industry is very obvious, which has increased by 5.65, 5.00, 4.69 and 4.68 times respectively; The optimization of carbon emissions efficiency in power sector, heavy industry, transportation and chemical industry was obvious, which increased by 2.55, 2.01, 1.86 and 1.47 times respectively; The carbon emissions efficiency of the fossil energy sector has decreased by 0.36 times. (3) The carbon emissions efficiency of various industries has significant differences. Among them, agriculture, service industry, light industry and construction industry are generally industries with higher carbon emissions efficiency, while power sector, fossil energy sector, transportation industry, chemical industry and heavy industry are generally industries with lower carbon emissions efficiency, especially power and fossil energy sectors. Based on these, this paper provides policy implications and scientific evidence for accurately improving carbon emissions efficiency from the perspective of carbon emissions efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China has made remarkable achievements in reducing carbon emissions in recent years. However, there is still much reduction room before achieving carbon neutrality. In Beijing, the capital of China, it is a strategic choice to respond to global climate change by promoting green and low-carbon development. This paper calculates the carbon dioxide emissions of key industries in Beijing and analyzes the temporal evolution trend of carbon emissions. Carbon dioxide emissions in Beijing before 2030 are predicted based on the grey prediction GM (1,1) and BP neural network model. The effects of factors of carbon dioxide emissions are discussed using the threshold regression model under different economic conditions. The results show that energy consumption intensity, GDP per capita, and the ownership of civil cars have a positive impact on carbon dioxide emissions, while the number of permanent residents and urban green space areas have a negative impact on carbon dioxide emissions. These findings of carbon emission prediction and influencing factors contribute to carbon reduction path design. Related policy implications on carbon emission reduction are put forward from the aspects of promoting industrial upgrading, accelerating the construction of advanced economic structures, optimizing transportation structures, and strengthening green building development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon peaking and carbon neutrality have become key agendas for countries to participate in global climate change governance. Research on China's carbon peaking has a guidance significance for the actions to achieve a nationwide carbon peaking by 2030. This paper builds a STIRPAT model which, in combination with a scenario -setting method, predicts the carbon peaking time of eight comprehensive economic zones in China, and analyzes the possible path of achieving carbon peaking at national level. The result shows a disparity in carbon peaking time among the zones--there are zones that can achieve carbon peaking under baseline scenario; zones that can achieve carbon peaking under conditional scenarios; and zones that cannot achieve carbon peaking under any scenario. In the first group, the zones can achieve carbon emission through both active path (southwest and eastern coastal comprehensive economic zones) and passive path (northeast comprehensive economic zones) according to characteristics of regional socio-economic development. The second group includes two economic anchors (northern coastal and southern coastal comprehensive economic zones) and an energy-exporting center (the middle reaches of Yellow River comprehensive economic zone). Zones in the third group generally witness a late development (the middle reaches of Yangtze River and northwest comprehensive zones). Based on characteristics of regional economy, population, industry, and energy of each zone, this paper proposes an initiative that the achievement of a nationwide carbon peaking should take regional development equity into consideration, and presumes that making each zone adopts differentiated peaking strategies may have a stronger effectiveness in controlling carbon emission growth than making all zones adopt strategies constraining on single factors on industry or energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China is the largest carbon emitter in the world. Understanding carbon emissions of China, especially at the provincial level, will help identify the critical factors behind carbon emissions and effectively implement carbon emission reduction measures. There are significant achievements in the study of carbon emissions of China's provinces. However, there is a gap for improvement in the study from periods and groups' perspectives using a decomposition-clustering method. This paper adopts the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index (LMDI) to decompose each province's carbon emissions, introduces the elbow and K-means methods to cluster provinces based on the driving factors of decomposition, and analyzes the driving factors of carbon emissions from the view of groups and periods. By analyzing the carbon emissions data of 28 provinces in China from 1998 to 2018, a breakthrough has been found that economic activities and energy intensity were the main driving factors of carbon emissions. Some possible countermeasures, such as optimizing the industrial structure and the energy structure, significantly increasing clean energy consumption, would receive effective carbon emission reduction feedback. The results provide better decision-making support for emission reduction policies in China and contribute to global climate change issues. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's declaration to the international community to peak CO2 emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 is of great significance in advancing the objectives of the Paris Agreement, and has a positive and far-reaching impact on China's high-quality development. This paper expounds on responsibilities and ambitions in tackling climate change, analyzes the high-quality development opportunities brought about by CO2 emissions peak and carbon neutrality, and discusses the net zero carbon emissions transformation in the new era of ecological civilization. This paper is of the view that development towards net zero carbon emissions provides a new impetus for building a Beautiful China, and promoting ecological civilization and green development. The essence of carbon neutrality should be correctly understood so that the world will work together to improve climate resilience. China should also deepen the understanding of the principles and methodologies of climate change economics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Financial activity plays an important role in the analysis of environmental and ecological implications. Previous research shows that shadow banking activities, informal and less regulated financial activities, have become an important part of financial systems after the 2008 financial crisis. However, the impact of shadow banking activities on carbon dioxide emissions has been ignored in previous research. In this paper, we use the panel annual data of 30 Chinese provinces over the period 2013–2020 to study the effect of shadow banking activities on carbon dioxide emissions. The result shows that shadow banking activities have a positive impact on carbon dioxide emissions, and the result is still robust by using dynamic panel regression with general method of moments (GMM) method. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the impact of shadow banking activities on carbon emissions is more pronounced for the secondary industry, which proves that shadow banking activities support more for environmentally unfriendly businesses. Furthermore, by using difference-in-difference (DiD) method, we examine the causal effect of shadow banking regulation policy on carbon dioxide emission reduction and demonstrate that the shadow banking regulation can reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Our research contributes to environment protection and achieving the goal of low-carbon economy by exploring the role of shadow banking activities and financial regulation in carbon dioxide reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to global warming, the overheating risk in the severe cold region of China has attracted attention, but so far, no studies have examined summer overheating in this region. This paper aims to reveal the overheating risk in recent and future climates in the severe cold region of China. An 18-storey residential building in the severe cold region of China was monitored from May to September 2021 to validate the simulation data of the indoor temperature. Weather files of the typical meteorological year (TMY) from 2007 to 2020, observations in 2021, and forecasts for the climate in different carbon emission scenarios (2030, 2060) were used to simulate the indoor temperature and assess the overheating risk. The results revealed the severity of the overheating risk; the overheating hours in the south-facing bedroom were recorded as 884 h (24.07%) with the TMY weather data and 1043 h (28.40%) in 2030 and 1719 h (46.81%) in 2060 under the RCP8.5 carbon emission scenario. Thus, the low carbon emissions policy may significantly alleviate overheating. Moreover, to cope with climate change, it is suggested that the Chinese local design standards should consider the summer overheating risk and make the necessary adjustments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The carbon mitigation response encompasses a variety of strategies aimed at mitigating greenhouse gas emissions resulting from human activities. These measures are crafted to address the challenges posed by climate change and facilitate the transition of businesses towards a low-carbon paradigm. Leveraging the analytical outcomes of the extended STIRPAT model and the PSO-BP prediction model, this paper suggests countermeasures for reducing carbon emissions in China's metal smelting industry. The overarching objective is to contribute to China's attainment of the "dual carbon objectives." The study identifies key factors influencing carbon emissions in the metal smelting industry, ranked in descending order of sensitivity: population, coal consumption, urbanization rate, total metal production, carbon intensity, proportion of secondary industry, and GDP per capita. Results from three established scenarios—namely, low carbon, standard, and high carbon—indicate a consistent decline in carbon emissions from China's metal smelting industry over the next 15 years. This research not only enhances the findings of existing studies on carbon emissions in the metal smelting sector but also introduces an innovative approach to carbon emission reduction within China's metal smelting industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change is a challenge for all of humanity. Should financial be environmentally responsible? This paper uses the Toda–Yamamoto test and the extended Fourier Toda–Yamamoto test re-examine the relationship between financial development and environmental quality in 31 provinces and municipalities in China during the period 2000–2018. We find that financial development in certain regions has effectively reduced the concentration of PM2.5, which indicates that it has a significantly positive effect on environmental quality, though with regional differences. After considering structural shifts, the relationship between financial development and environmental improvement is found to be significant in more regions, indicating that China has undergone structural shifts in these aspects. The aforementioned conclusions are also supported by further robustness tests. China can consequently utilize the positive impact of finance for advocating carbon emission reduction and improving environment quality, therefore contributing to the response to global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economy has made significant strides in the past three decades. As a direct result of China's "one belt, one road" (OBOR) initiative, the country's rate of industrialization and urbanization is currently the fastest in the entire world. This rapid development is largely dependent on the enormous amounts of energy currently being consumed and forms the foundation of the world's high levels of carbon emissions. It is generally agreed that the production of greenhouse gases, particularly carbon dioxide, is the primary contributor to the current state of climate change. In this paper, a CO2 emission prediction model based on Bi-LSTM is constructed. In order to conduct empirical tests on the model, this study uses data from South Asian countries and China from 2001 to 2020. China's CO2 emissions from 2022 to 2030 were predicted along with those of other countries in order to study the combined effects of the scientific and technological progress, industrial structures, and energy structure factors affecting CO2 emissions. When compared with the LSTM and GRU methods, the Bi-LSTM model's results produced lower MAE, MSE, and MAPE values, indicating that it performs better. According to the findings, carbon emissions represent a significant problem that will become much worse in the future due to China and India's high emissions, particularly in the next 10 years, if the government does not implement policies that help reduce those emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the statement of Chinese government on energy saving in 2020 at the United Nations General Assembly, carbon neutral was widely spread as a new concept. As a big country, China has the responsibility and obligation to make its own contribution to global climate change. This paper aims to explore and find effective ways for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. We identify the main factors affecting carbon emissions by STIRPAT model; combined with the scenario analysis, we divide the year 2020 to 2060 into three stages: year 2020–2030 is carbon peak stage, year 2030–2050 is rapid emission reduction stage, and year 2050–2060 is complete carbon neutralization stage. At each stage, three development models, high, medium, and low level, were established. There are a total of 27 different scenarios in three stages. A system dynamics model was established to simulate the effects of carbon emission factors and changes in carbon sinks in different scenarios. Finally, 8 paths were found which in line with Chinese current goal of achieving carbon neutrality with treating reach carbon peak in 2030 as an additional filter condition. Comparing per capita GDP levels in different scenarios, we eventually find that keeping economic development at a low level in the first stage, a high level in the second stage, and a medium level in the finally stage, the point where net carbon emissions are less than zero for the first time will appear between year 2056 and 2057. By then, the per capita GDP will reach 144,500 yuan (based on year 2000), nearly four times 2000's. In all, these findings are helpful for policymakers to implement reasonable policies to achieve carbon emission peaking and carbon neutral in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The most significant global challenge is global climate change; carbon emission reduction and carbon neutralization are the last way to solve global climate change. Achieving carbon neutrality will significantly impact the global economy and the national economy. The "dual carbon goals" proposed by China will also substantially impact the global economy and regional economic development. Focusing on regional economic development, achieving carbon neutrality is not only an opportunity for regional economic development but also a challenge. To achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, there must be institutional innovation and management innovation, which will provide new opportunities for balanced development among regions. With the development of inclusive finance, financial services for many disadvantaged groups and small and medium-sized enterprises have been further developed, thereby promoting economic development. With the development of Internet finance, big data, cloud computing, and other technologies, the development of inclusive finance, etc., the concept has also emerged. However, due to the short time of digital financial inclusion, the imperfect regulatory system, and the low degree of public participation, it is worth investigating whether the development of digital financial inclusion has a catalytic effect on the improvement of economic growth. Using the data of 31 provinces to build a panel regression model, this paper studies the market development, the development degree of digital financial inclusion, and the impact of digital financial inclusion on the relationship between factor markets and product markets and regions from the perspective of factor markets and product markets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon dioxide (CO 2) emissions and climate change risk have become constraints on global economic sustainable development. Environmental regulation (ER) is a key method for achieving synergy in CO 2 and pollution reduction in China. This paper is the first study to explore the effects of ER on CO 2 emissions by exploiting the National Environmental Protection 11th Five-Year Plan (NEP11-FYP). The implementation of the NEP11-FYP significantly decreases CO 2 emissions by 19.73% in key environmental cities relative to other cities. Heterogeneity analyses suggest that this negative impact is larger in western cities and cities with more pressure to reduce CO 2 emissions. Scale effects, structural effects, and technical effects might be three potential influencing channels through which ER contributes to the CO 2 reduction effect. In addition, the results of the spatial externality of the NEP11-FYP demonstrate a positive spillover effect in neighboring cities within a distance of 300 km and a negative spillover effect in cities more than 500 km away. Our empirical findings provide policy implications for implementing low-carbon transition strategies and reducing CO 2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change induced by carbon emissions has received extensive global attention. However, with the ever-increasing environmental attention from governments, whether firms, as main contributors to carbon emissions, have responded to the government's call to achieve carbon abatement target is uncertain. To answer this question, we manually collected urban government work reports from 2007-2016 and extracted environment-related textual content to quantify government environmental attention (GEA). Employing firms' carbon emission data from National Tax Survey Database (NTSD), this paper explores the impact of GEA on firms' carbon emissions governance. We observe that the increase in GEA cuts firms' carbon emissions. The results remain solid after using the instrumental variable method to alleviate endogeneity problems. The mechanism analysis reveals that GEA reduces firms' carbon emissions via three environmental-related decision-making behaviors of government: environmental regulations, fiscal expenditure and subsidy policies, and energy structure transformation strategies. Heterogeneity analysis shows that GEA notably reduces firms' carbon emissions from burning coal and oil energy. Moreover, firms in eastern-north, central, and western regions are more susceptible to GEA, while the impact is insignificant for firms in eastern regions. Furthermore, the carbon reduction performance is more pronounced for enterprises in capital-intensive, technology-intensive, and high polluting industries. This study provides a reference for policymakers to ensure the enforcement of carbon emissions governance of firms and to reach carbon abatement targets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How can China fully use the limited carbon emission space to achieve the dual goal of stable economic growth and a gradual decline in carbon emissions under increasingly severe global climate change? To address this issue, this paper incorporates the carbon emission space as a production factor into the total factor analysis framework and discusses how environmental regulations affect the total factor carbon productivity. The conclusions reveal that the current environmental regulations have a direct effect on improvement in the total factor carbon productivity of industrial sectors. Environmental regulations also have an indirect effect on the total factor carbon productivity that is mainly achieved through the energy structure and technological advancement. The results of the additional analyses show that these direct and indirect effects have threshold characteristics. Increasing the total factor carbon productivity is beneficial only when the environmental regulation intensity, energy structure and technological level are within a reasonable threshold range. Therefore, the environmental regulation intensity, energy structure conditions and technological level need to be considered when environmental regulations are relied upon to improve the total factor carbon productivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of low-carbon economic development, carbon productivity has effectively integrated the two major objectives of carbon reduction and economic growth, and increasing carbon productivity has become the main approach to address global climate change. Using data from China's input–output table for 2002–2017, this study measures the evolutionary characteristics and influencing factors of carbon productivity from the perspective of embodied carbon emission in China's industrial sector. The results indicate that, first, China's industrial sectors' carbon productivity shows an increasing trend from 25.22 to 65.3 million yuan/10,000 tons of CO2 in 2002–2017, but the overall level is low. The energy efficiency factor is a major element affecting improvement in carbon productivity. Second, the carbon productivity of the 28 industrial sectors shows an increasing trend. There is a significant gap in the carbon productivity between different industrial sectors. The energy efficiency factor in all industrial sectors is positive, indicating that energy efficiency is a positive factor in increasing carbon productivity. Third, from largest to smallest in the carbon productivity are the primary, tertiary, and secondary industries. Finally, this paper recommends several approaches to improve carbon productivity from the perspectives of technology, differentiated policies of carbon emission reduction, and industrial structure adjustment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global level of climate change agreement and the extensive development of China's industrialization process have caused China to face severe pressures regarding energy conservation and emission reduction. Tourism industry plays an important role in promoting steady economic growth and improving ecological environment in China. The agglomeration economic effect it produces can reduce carbon emissions, but the crowding effect may not be conducive to low carbon development. Therefore, how to reduce carbon emissions while promoting the development of tourism industry has become an urgent problem. This paper measures the level of tourism industry agglomeration and carbon emission in 30 regions of China and uses the method of spatial econometrics to analyze the impact of tourism industry agglomeration on carbon emissions. The empirical results prove that tourism industry agglomeration can reduce the carbon emissions of local and neighboring regions in China. However, this does not mean that the larger the scale of tourism industry agglomeration, the more conducive to the reduction of carbon emissions. For developed tourism groups, the impact of agglomeration effect on carbon emissions of local and adjacent areas shows a U-shaped relationship. When the agglomeration level exceeds 1.963, the expansion of agglomeration scale will increase local carbon emissions. For underdeveloped tourism areas, there is an inverted U-shaped relationship between agglomeration level and carbon emissions both in local and adjacent areas. When the agglomeration level reaches 1.883, the expansion of agglomeration scale will reduce local carbon emissions. The conclusions provide a basis for Chinese government to guide the low-carbon development of the tourism industry from another perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the global context, countries must reduce carbon dioxide emissions to "net zero" by 2050 to limit global warming to 1.5 °C above pre-industrial levels. China's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are to peak carbon dioxide emissions by 2030 and achieve the carbon neutrality target by 2060. To monitor the achievements of the NDCs, establishing an annual-based accounting mechanism is necessary to record the carbon stocks in China, especially for Blue Carbon. The paper aims to present China's first national-scale systematic Blue Carbon accounting for mangroves, salt marshes, and seagrasses, covering the accounting subjects of physical and monetary assets, as well as relevant indicators for investors. It focuses on the design of the accounting method and system, the selection of data categories applied to this system, and the application of China's Blue Carbon accounting based on this accounting system. Taking Blue Carbon accounting as a starting point, this paper analyses the restoration prospects of these ecosystems and their application potential for NDCs in China compared with the terrestrial ecosystems. The results indicate that mangroves are the most cost-effective type of ecosystem, even compared to terrestrial forests. Thus, the paper provides policymakers with a new perspective on the decision-making of carbon sequestration relevant decisions, aiming to promote the monitoring, restoration, and expansion of China's coastal blue carbon ecosystem through the establishment of a sound Blue Carbon accounting system, and to help achieve the carbon neutrality goal in China's NDCs through regular and systematic monitoring of its national Blue Carbon inventories. • China's coastal blue carbon ecosystems are carbon sources rather than carbon sinks. • Mangroves are the most cost-effective coastal blue carbon ecosystem compared to salt marshes and seagrass beds. • The Blue Carbon of mangroves is more cost-effective than the Green Carbon of terrestrial forests when meeting China's Nationally Determined Contributions target of increasing forest stocks. • Establishing guidelines for Blue Carbon data requirements will lay a scientific foundation for formulating strategies and policies to cope with global climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• The influences of the geometric parameters of the reactor on the SCPP-HPCR are investigated. • A formula is proposed to calculate the CO 2 emissions reduction of the system. • The optimal operating conditions of the SCPP-HPCR is analyzed. • 2.38 kg of CH 4 is degraded and 375.52 kg of CO 2 is reduced through the system one day. The increase of 1.09 °C in global temperature resulted in significant catastrophes because of the extreme climate. The climate change rate can be slowed down by reducing the levels of CH 4 and CO 2 in the atmosphere. The solar chimney power plant integrated with a honeycomb photocatalytic reactor (SCPP-HPCR) uses the photocatalytic technology to remove atmospheric CH 4. In addition, CO 2 emissions can be reduced from coal fired power plant due to the generating capacity of the system. In this paper, the influence of the geometric parameters of the reactor and turbine on the overall performance of the SCPP-HPCR is studied by numerical simulation. The obtained results showed that the flow resistance inside the system was mostly caused by the HPCR at low turbine speed, and primarily by the turbine at high turbine speed. Reducing the pore diameter of the reactor could improve the photocatalytic performance of the SCPP-HPCR more than increasing the turbine speed. The SCPP-HPCR having a pore diameter of 3 mm, porosity of 0.85, and constant turbine speed of 180 rpm, built in Qianyanzhou, China, could remove 2.38 kg of CH 4 and reduce 375.52 kg of CO 2 in one day. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The anthropogenic emission of carbon dioxide (CO2) into the atmosphere is recognized as the main contributor to global climate change. To date, scientists have developed various strategies, including CO2 utilization technologies, to reduce global carbon emissions. This paper presents the global scientific landscape of the CO2 utilization research from 1995 to 2019 based on a bibliometric analysis of 1875 publications extracted from Web of Science. The findings indicate a major increase in the number of publications and citations received from 2015 to 2019, denoting a fast-emerging research trend. The dynamics of global CO2 utilization research is partly driven by China's policies and research funding to promote low-carbon economic development. Applied Energy is recognized as a core journal in this research topic. The utilization of CO2 is a multidisciplinary topic that has progressed by multidimensional collaborations at the country and organizations levels, while the formation of co-authorship networks at the individual level is mostly influenced by the authors' affiliations. Keyword co-occurrence analysis reveals a rapid evolution in the CO2 utilization strategies from chemical fixation in carbonates and epoxides to pilot-scale testing of power-to-gas technologies in Europe and the USA. The development of efficient power-to-fuel technologies and biological utilization routes (using microalgae and bacteria) will probably be the next research priorities in CO2 utilization research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To achieve the goal of 'Net-zero Europe' by 2050, the European Union (EU) has set up detailed policies in the fields of energy and climate. This paper summarizes the main characteristics of relevant policies in the EU and UK and their implications for China by reviewing these policies in the achievement of the carbon neutrality goal and other goals in the energy and climate fields. The characteristics of these energy and climate policies include: ① Top-down and bottom-up approaches are adopted to distribute the EU' s overall emission reduction targets to member states in accordance with the principle of fairness, and each member state formulates and adjusts its own goals to ensure the realization of the overall goals. ② Detailed transition plans are formulated for the power, industry, transportation, and building sectors; importance is attached to the application of new and renewable energy technologies such as solar, wind, and hydrogen energy; specific goals are set concerning coal power transition, nuclear energy development, energy efficiency improvement, carbon capture and storage, electrification, and building renovations; and the importance of energy security in transition planning is stressed. ③ A sound and mature emissions trading system and a fair transition mechanism are established to support the realization of the transition goals, and developing countries are helped to reduce emissions through technical dialogues and climate financing. To reach peak carbon emissions and achieve carbon neutrality, China should develop relevant roadmaps at national, sectoral, and provincial levels and strengthen R&D of key decarbonization technologies. At the same time, China should enhance its regulatory regime, and improve the carbon emissions trading system, the green financial system, and the just transition mechanism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the aggravation of global warming and the increasing demand for energy, the development of renewable energy is imminent. Floating photovoltaic (FPV) is a new form of renewable energy generation. However, the impact of FPV on the aquatic environment is still unclear. By long-term empirical monitoring and data analysis, this paper reveals the shading effect of large-scale FPV power station on aquatic environment for the first time. The results show that: (1) Compared with the non-photovoltaic (NP) zone, FPV only significantly reduces the concentration of dissolved oxygen in the photovoltaic (P) zone. (2) The concentration of chlorophyll a , nitrate nitrogen and total phosphorus increase, while pH and ammonia nitrogen decrease. FPV only causes an effect of the same order of magnitude as the initial concentration, and has no significant adverse effects on the nutritional status of the water body at a coverage ratio less than 50%. (3) FPV has a cooling effect on the water body during the daytime and a thermal insulation effect at night, with the most pronounced impact on peak water temperature (T w). The heating and cooling process of T w in P zone usually lags behind the NP zone by 1–3 h. The diurnal fluctuation and vertical difference of T w as well as the stability of water body are reduced under the shading of FPV, alleviating the influence of climate change on T w and water body stratification. (4) If 10% of the water area larger than 1 km2 in China are used to develop FPV, more than 900 million tons of CO 2 emissions can be reduced, and about 5 billion m3 water can be saved, which is significant in the context of climate change. In general, this paper provides a reference for the future aquatic environmental impact assessment of FPV and the formulation of related policies. • The impact of FPV on aquatic environment has been assessed. • The scale effect of FPV and impact of "fish-photovoltaic integration" are revealed. • Spatial-temporal and object specificity of impact on aquatic environment is reviewed. • The responds of FPV to the challenges of global climate change are further discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

All mankind is faced with the severe challenge to deal with climate change. Advocating the concept of “a community with a shared future for mankind,” China has taken the initiative to commit itself to emission reduction and has actively contributed its strength. According to the data on agricultural carbon emissions, it finds that non-carbon dioxide gases dominated agricultural carbon emissions, showing an overall upward trend year by year. However, a downward trend has been seen, and it was near a peak in this regard in recent years. Emissions from energy consumption of agricultural machinery may become the most significant uncertain factor for the carbon dioxide peaking of agriculture, as agriculture in China is yet to be mechanized further. The analysis above has laid a foundation for the emission reduction idea of driving the green transformation of agriculture with low-carbon measures. Specific recommendations are as follows in this regard. Carbon constraint indicators should be added to the 14th Five-Year Plan for the development of agriculture and rural areas. The methodology accounting should be expedited for agricultural carbon emissions. China should make a lot of effort to develop the agricultural carbon market and strive to employ financial means to promote low-carbon agricultural technologies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The food industry accounts for 25% of global carbon emissions, of which animal food accounts for 57%. Therefore, the reduction of carbon emissions from meat products consumption is one of the important issues of global climate governance. This study calculates and compares the carbon footprints of major meat products in China at various stages of production and consumption and the trends of their development based on life cycle assessment and questionnaires, which will help to understand the emission characteristics and reduction potential of the food sector in China. The results show that the main stages of the life cycle and the size of the total carbon footprint of the meat category for the same unit standard exhibit the following order: beef > mutton > pork > poultry (chicken and duck) > seafood (fish and shrimp); the farming factor has a greater impact on carbon emissions, followed by transportation and a smaller impact at the meal-making stage; from 2010 to 2021, China's total meat products consumption and carbon emissions continue to increase, but the structure of meat consumption is gradually diversified and balanced, and the trend of carbon emissions shows a slowdown in growth with structural changes. Finally, based on the results of the study, this paper proposes countermeasures for meat production and consumption. • Designed a unique meat consumption life cycle carbon footprint inventory and carbon emission calculation example diagram. • Measured the carbon footprint of different meat products and their life cycle phases in Chinese household meat consumption. • Analyzed the development trend of carbon emissions caused by the total and structural changes in China's meat consumption. • Identified potential opportunities for carbon emission reduction in meat consumption and propose targeted countermeasures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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The intensification of global climate change has led to a widespread consensus on carbon reduction, with the power industry being the principal contributor to carbon emissions necessitating an inevitable transition of its energy structure. Concomitantly, the escalating frequency of natural disasters caused by extreme weather presents formidable challenges to both secure power supply and the low-carbon transition of the power system. To fulfill the developmental requirements of a low-carbon power system and address the carbon emission risks imposed by natural disasters, this paper proposes a bi-level model for generation expansion planning (GEP) that incorporates constraints on the carbon emission trajectory and the influence of natural disasters. The planning-level model optimizes investment costs of various generation technologies and energy storage (ES), as well as the overall operational expenses over the planning period, with an objective to minimize them. It incorporates carbon emission trajectory constraints and policy constraints, such as carbon peaking, carbon neutrality and renewable energy (RE) penetration rates, in order to optimize the planning installed capacity of power sources. The operational-level model aims to minimize typical daily operating costs while also simulating power unit outputs in routine and disaster scenarios. A case study is conducted in a disaster-prone province in southern China to analyze the power generation expansion planning and the trajectory of carbon emissions from 2020 to 2060 under different scenarios. The simulation results show that compared to thermal power, the planning scheme mainly focused on RE with ES is better suited to achieve the goal of a low-carbon transition of the power grid. Moreover, after considering natural disasters, the cost and carbon emissions of power system planning are higher, and the risk of carbon emissions increases with the severity of disasters. • A multi-time scale bi-level low-carbon GEP model is proposed. • Natural disaster scenarios and low-carbon policy constraints are considered in the GEP model. • Carbon emission trajectory of the planned power system is estimated and introduced as a constraint into the GEP model. • Evaluation indicators that comprehensively consider low-carbon performance and economic feasibility are proposed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emission of tourism transportation is one of the important factors leading to global climate change. It is of great social and economic significance to study the spatial differences and influencing factors of tourism transportation carbon emission. This paper takes 30 provincial administrative regions in China as the basic research units, then, based on the construction of measurement model for carbon emission of tourism transportation, and uses the spatial variogram, trend surface analysis and spatial measurement models, to explore the spatial and temporal pattern evolution and influencing factors of tourism transportation carbon emission. It is found as follows. 1) In the period of 2005 to 2018, the carbon emission of China's tourism transportation shows a continuous increase trend, in which the absolute difference of tourism transportation carbon emission increases gradually, and the relative difference shows the characteristics of periodic fluctuation. 2) The overall spatial differentiation of tourism transportation carbon emission is significant, showing a trend of decreasing from east to west. This is basically consistent with China's "strong east and weak west" tourism network pattern, the spatial characteristics of tourist passenger flow and direction which are along the main traffic trunks and aviation hubs. 3) There are spatial interactions and linkage effects in the carbon emissions of provincial tourism transportation in China. In general, the spatial difference tends to increase in the east-west direction, while the spatial differentiation in other directions is small. 4) The regional economic development level, the openness to foreign tourism and scale of tourists are the main factors leading to tourism transportation carbon emission. To a great extent, this has shaped the regional differentiation pattern of the carbon emission of China s tourism transportation, and the development level of service industry, tourism resource, energy intensity and energy structure have various degrees of inducing or inhibiting effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrialization and increased energy use are leading to a greater influence of environmental and climate challenges on human existence and progress. China's emissions in 2023 totaled 12.6 gigatons, representing 35% of global emissions, establishing it as the top carbon emitter globally. Combined with China's industrial structure, it is essential to investigate carbon reduction in the building sector due to its significant contribution to carbon emissions. This study introduces a third-party organization into the relationship between stakeholders, based on traditional government regulation. It constructs a three-party dynamic evolution model involving the government, environmental protection organization, and construction enterprise. The study analyzes the evolution process of the three-party strategy selection using evolutionary game theory. We analyze the elements influencing decision-making for the three parties through simulation analysis and provide appropriate recommendations. The study's findings indicate that low-carbon construction in China's construction sector is an intricate system involving several stakeholders, each guided by their own interests when determining their behavioral methods. Government penalties and financial subsidies can influence construction enterprises to adopt low-carbon production practices to some degree, but excessive rewards and punishments may not support system stability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Continued urban expansion (UE) has long been regarded as a huge challenge for climate change mitigation. However, much less is known about how UE affects carbon emissions (CEs), especially in the urban agglomerations of the Yellow River Basin (UAYRB), China. In this regard, this study introduced kernel density analysis, the Gini coefficient, and Markov chains to reveal the UE patterns and carbon emissions intensity (CEI) in the UAYRB at the county level, and explored the spatial heterogeneity of the impact of UE on CEI with the geographically and temporally weighted regression model. The results show that both CEI and UE in the UAYRB showed a steady growing trend during the study period. The kernel density of CEI and UE revealed that CEI in the UAYRB was weakening, while the UE rate continuously slowed down. The Gini coefficients of both CEI and UE in the UAYRB region were at high levels, indicating obvious spatial imbalance. The Markov transfer probability matrix for CEI with a time span of five years showed that CEI growth will still occur over the next five years, while that of UE was more obvious. Meanwhile, counties with a regression coefficient of UE on CEI higher than 0 covered the majority, and the distribution pattern remained quite stable. The regression coefficients of different urban landscape metrics on CEI in the UAYRB varied greatly; except for the landscape shape index, the regression coefficients of the aggregation index, interspersion and juxtaposition index, and patch density overall remained positive. These findings can advance the policy enlightenment of the high-quality development of the Yellow River Basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the pursuit of carbon neutrality, state-owned forests are prime candidates for carbon offset projects due to their unique tenure and management characteristics. Employing methodologies endorsed by the International Panel on Climate Change and logistic growth curves, this study assesses the carbon stocks and sequestration potential of established state-owned plantation forests across 31 Chinese provinces from 2023 to 2060, encompassing seven forestry industry groups. This study projects that by 2060, these forests will amass a carbon stock of 558.25 MtC, with the highest stock in Northeast China (122.09 MtC) and the lowest in Northwest China (32.27 MtC), notably showing the highest growth rate at 91.15%. Over the forecast period, they are expected to accumulate a carbon sink of 637.07 MtCO2e, translating to an average annual carbon sink of 17.22 MtCO2e and an average annual carbon sink per unit of 1.41 tons of CO2 per hectare per year. Additionally, state-owned forests have the potential to offset approximately 0.15%–0.17% of annual carbon emissions, aligning with international climate goals. However, it is essential to note that the conversion of these carbon sinks into tradable carbon credits is subject to specific methodology requirements. Therefore, the future development of carbon offset projects in China's state-owned forests should consider the advancement of carbon market mechanisms, including the Chinese Certified Emission Reduction and the introduction of a carbon inclusion mechanism and natural forest methodology, to fully realize their potential contributions to carbon neutrality. In summary, these findings offer valuable insights for shaping the future of carbon offset initiatives within China's state-owned forests. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Technical change has a pivotal role to play in low-carbon development. Recent research has offered different insights regarding the effect of technical change on CO2 emissions but ignored the bias of technical changes which lead to changes in CO2 emissions. To fill the gap, this paper uses the 2008 to 2015 provincial-level data on China's 22 industrial sub-sectors to investigate both the effect of directed technical change on CO2 emissions and its heterogeneity. We find that the technical change in most industrial sectors in China was capital-biased, although a labor-biased trend was evident. Labor-biased technical change is conducive to CO2 reduction, while capital-biased technical change has the opposite effect. Moreover, this effect is different by developmental periods, industries, and regions. Therefore, we propose that the government promotes labor-biased technical change based on the differentiated characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The implementation of the "Belt and Road" strategy not only promotes the coordinated development of China's regional economy but also generates a large amount of greenhouse gas emissions. The research and policy recommendations on agricultural carbon emissions are of great significance for China toward engendering sustainable agricultural development and appreciably contributing to the alleviation of global climate change. In this paper, agricultural carbon emissions in the Belt and Road region of China from 2003-2018 are calculated, and its spatial-temporal characteristics are analyzed. Then, we modified the logarithmic mean Divisia index model from the original four factors to six to analyze the drivers of agricultural carbon emissions. The research results obtained are as follows: (1) Total carbon emission reached a peak of 26.6326 million tons in 2016, representing a 54.53% increase from the 17.2342 million tons in 2003. Moreover, it indicated a downward trend in 2017 and dropped by approximately 4% to 25.5685 million tons in 2018. (2) Spatially, agricultural carbon emission varies greatly, with the highest value recorded in Heilongjiang and the lowest in Tibet, thereby exhibiting the characteristics of "northwest>northeast>southwest>southeast." (3) Overall, the economic factor was the most important driving factor, whereas the subsidy factor was the strongest inhibiting factor for the growth of agricultural carbon emissions. Notably, the foreign trade factor had both promoting and inhibiting effects on it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Forecasting-test framework for long-term power system planning. • Coal-fired generators can be completely withdrawn from the power system by 2060. • China's power capacity mix will transition to wind and solar generators dominated. • Biomass and gas-fired generators will take on the role of reserved generators. • The timing of achieving China's zero-coal power system may be advanced or delayed. Facing the challenges of climate deterioration, environmental pollution, and energy shortages, China has put forward the goals of "carbon dioxide peaking and carbon neutrality", and the electricity sector will be the key area and the main direction of carbon emissions reduction. To prospect China's power system and explore the potential for establishing China's zero-coal power system in the future, this paper proposes a forecasting-test framework for long-term power system planning. We predict, evaluate, and analyze China's power system from 2025 to 2060 using the proposed forecasting-test framework. During this process, the power capacity mix and the electricity generation mix of China's power system will gradually transition from coal-fired generators dominated to wind and solar generators dominated. Moreover, the roles of different generators and energy storages are illustrated through the seasonal comparison and sensitivity analysis of the installed capacity of generators. The results indicate that coal-fired generators can be completely withdrawn from the power system, confirming the feasibility and possibility of achieving China's zero-coal power system by 2060. Although the timing may be advanced or delayed in different scenarios, achieving China's zero-coal power system will require exercising nationwide planning and making joint efforts of various sectors from now on. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explores the impact of political uncertainty on sustainable urban development by examining carbon emission trading systems (ETS) in four major markets in China (Beijing, Shanghai, Guangdong, and Hubei) from 2014 to 2022. As an alternative to carbon taxes, carbon ETS markets have become increasingly popular due to their success in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, their effectiveness is often hindered by political instability and uncertainty. Utilising logistic regression and AR(1)-GARCH estimations, we identify a negative relationship between political uncertainty and carbon trading volume. Our study also reveals significant variations in the responses of these markets to political uncertainty. The paper contributes to the understanding of how ETS markets operate in a complex and constantly changing political environment. We suggest that policymakers need to consider the impact of political uncertainty on carbon trading when designing and implementing urban policies that promote sustainable development. Additionally, our research contributes to the development of urban policies that can be effectively implemented in both developed and developing regions. • Local government official turnovers are used as the measurement of political uncertainty. • Daily transaction data from four carbon ETS markets (Beijing, Shanghai, Hubei and Guangdong) in China • Considered the probability and proportion of zero transaction day • Logistic regression and AR(1)-GARCH estimations • A negative relationship between political uncertainty and carbon transaction volume [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Extensive agricultural development in China has given rise to a range of environmental issues that pose a significant hurdle to the country's "dual-carbon" goal. In order to tackle this challenge effectively, it becomes crucial to tap into the potential of green financial developments as means of reducing carbon emissions. To shed light on this matter, this study collates data from a total of 30 provinces in China from 2007 to 2019. And A two-way fixed-effects model was employed to examine the extent to which the advancement of green finance (GF) in China has effectively contributed to the decrease of carbon emissions in the agricultural sector. Furthermore, our research endeavors encompass the investigation of the specific mechanisms via which green finance has its influence on carbon emissions within the agricultural sector. The findings indicate that the implementation of green finance plays a crucial role in facilitating the reduction of carbon emissions within the agricultural sector in China. Technological advancements emerge as the primary mechanism through which green finance facilitates agricultural carbon emission reduction. Nevertheless, the impact of modernizing the regional industrial structure has been detrimental in this regard. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]