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To achieve China's Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), the development of the Internet economy has become an important choice for emission-reduction strategies, but the relevant emission-reduction mechanisms are still unclear. Accordingly, by constructing a system-generalized method of moments (system-GMM) approach following the STIRPAT framework, we explore the effect of the Internet economy on carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions through the mediating effect of traffic demand and the moderating effect of technological innovation using panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2017. The results indicate that: (1) the Internet economy mitigates CO2 emissions in China; for example, a 1% increase in the Internet economy indexes causes a 0.135% decrease in CO2 emissions; (2) the development of the Internet economy has an indirect effect on CO2 emissions by decreasing traffic demand; (3) technological innovation is a favorable moderator that expands the direct and indirect emission-reduction effects of the Internet economy; and (4) the mitigating effect of the Internet economy on CO2 emissions is significant at the lower quantiles (i.e. 10th, 25th, and 50th), which suggests the Internet economy is a superior predictor of CO2 emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • This paper explores the spatial impact of the Internet on GTFP. • The SARspARCH model is used in this study. • Internet development has a positive spatial fluctuation spillover effect on GTFP. • Internet contributes spatial fluctuation spillover effect on GTFP in eastern China. • The impact of the Internet on GTFP is heterogeneous in Internet-based cities. Digital financial inclusion (DFI) has the advantage of promoting information sharing, reducing transaction costs, and providing microloan platforms for small and medium-sized enterprises. It has also made outstanding contributions to decreasing CO 2 emissions. However, the volatility correlation between DFI and CO 2 emissions is still relatively unexplored. This research uses the spatial autoregressive process with conditional heteroscedastic errors (SARspARCH) model to evaluate the spatial fluctuation spillover impacts of DFI on CO 2 emissions in 284 Chinese cities covering the period 2011–2016 following the IPAT model. The results indicate that CO 2 emissions have significant spatial spillover and volatility effects. The fitted value of SARspARCH estimation results is more realistic than the SAR and spARCH model. DFI alleviates average CO 2 emissions in Chinese cities. Moreover, spatial volatility weakens the negative influence of DFI on average carbon emissions. This study provides insights from which governments can strengthen inter-regional communication and synergistic emission-reduction capabilities, and promote the digitization of the financial sector to achieve carbon neutrality goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore how renewable energy reduces carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions, this study decomposes the impacts of renewable energy on CO2 emissions by employing the Generalized Divisia Index Method (GDIM), based on panel data of 25 countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) for the period 2005–2019. Also, we explore their decoupling relationships. The results indicate that: (1) The numbers of countries with an ideal strong decoupling state reach the highest point during 2010 and 2015. (2) The growth in renewable energy scale is the key driving force responsible for promoting CO2 emissions in most countries along the BRI, while the main factor inhibiting CO2 emissions is the carbon intensity of renewable energy. (3) The carbon mitigation effect of the increase in the proportion of renewable energy is considerably higher than that of technological improvements from renewables, and it will promote the transformation of the relationship between renewable energy and carbon emissions into a more ideal strong decoupling relationship. (4) The effect of carbon efficiency on emission is not significant at this stage, but it will be much more important in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Considering the rapid development of the global digital industry and the need for sustainable development and climate change, this paper explores the global ICT-embodied CO 2 emissions changes and intensities from 2000 to 2014, and the driving factors behind ICT-embodied CO 2 emissions changes in 15 countries by using the multi-regional input–output (MRIO) method and structural decomposition analysis (SDA) method. We also use Monte Carlo simulations to forecast the ICT-embodied CO 2 emissions from 2020 to 2050. The results indicate that: (1) After 2009, global ICT's embodied CO 2 emissions first decline and then increase, and the sector that manufactures computer, electronic, and optical products account for 82.83% of the global ICT's embodied CO 2 emissions in 2014; (2) judging from the emission-reduction trends of various countries, CO 2 emissions intensity factors are the main drivers restricting the growth of embodied CO 2 emissions in the ICT sector, while final demand composition factors play a significant role in promoting the increase of ICT's embodied CO 2 emissions; (3) Australia, Germany, and Indonesia contribute to an increase in ICT's embodied CO 2 emissions due to sectoral heterogeneity, while Canada, China, Germany, and South Korea have contributed to an increase in ICT's embodied CO 2 emissions in terms of regional heterogeneity; (4) the drivers have also changed significantly with the impact of the financial crisis; and (5) with the current pattern of development, it is difficult to reach the peak of ICT-embodied CO 2 emissions in most countries before 2050. This paper also provides feasible implementation plans for carbon mitigation in the global ICT industry. • We analyze the global ICT-embodied CO 2 emissions changes and their driving factors. • The structural decomposition analysis (SDA) method is utilized. • Final demand composition factors play a key role in ICT's embodied CO 2 emissions. • ICT-embodied CO 2 emissions of Australia, Germany, and Indonesia increase due to sectoral heterogeneity. • It is difficult to reach the peak of ICT-embodied CO 2 emissions in most countries before 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

E-commerce has emerged through digital platforms and Internet construction as an important way to achieve low-carbon development in China. To evaluate the mitigation effect of e-commerce, this paper conducts a quasi-natural experiment in terms of the pilot policy of national e-commerce demonstration cities (NEDC) to explore the changes in CO 2 emissions of 270 cities from 2004 to 2017 in China. We also check the asymmetry, mechanism effects and heterogeneity. The results show that the treated cities reduce CO 2 emissions by 4.1% due to the NEDC pilot policy compared to the untreated cities. The estimated results pass the parallel trend test, robustness tests, and the Goodman-Bacon decomposition. Moreover, the NEDC pilot policy increases the CO 2 emissions of treated cities by promoting economic growth (scale effect), and decreases the carbon emissions of treated cities by upgrading the industrial structure (structural effect) and increasing the technological innovation level (technical effect). Furthermore, the CO 2 mitigation effects of the NEDC pilot policy are significantly concentrated in the higher quantiles. Finally, the NEDC pilot policy has significantly negative effects on CO 2 emissions in "postage-free regions," southern China, and cities with large e-commerce sales. The results of this paper provide theoretical and practical references for China to achieve low-carbon development. • Evaluating the impact of pilot policies of national e-commerce demonstration cities (NEDC) on carbon emissions in China. • The NEDC pilot policy reduces carbon emissions of treated cities by 4.1%. • The NEDC pilot policy reduces carbon emissions through structural and technical effects. • The emission-reduction effects are significant at the higher quantiles. • The impact of the NEDC pilot policy on carbon emissions is obviously heterogeneous. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]