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Pollution control and carbon emission reduction pose significant challenges for developing countries, and achieving synergistic reductions in pollution and carbon emissions (SRPCs) has emerged as the optimal choice. Digitization, a prevailing trend in the current era, presents new opportunities for realizing the SRPC. We utilize data from Chinese A-share listed companies from 2007 to 2022 to investigate the impact of corporate digital transformation on the SRPC. The research reveals the following. (1) Enterprise digital transformation significantly promotes the SRPC, a conclusion validated through a series of robustness tests. However, the SRPC resulting from digital transformation is characterized by weak synergy, which is primarily observed in the coordinated reduction in air pollution and carbon emissions. (2) This effect is notably stronger for companies near environmental regulatory authorities, those receiving government environmental subsidies, and state-owned enterprises (SOEs). (3) Enhancing managerial collaborative management capabilities, promoting corporate technological innovation capabilities, and alleviating financing pressure are the primary mechanisms at play. This research provides important policy and practical insights for promoting the SRPC in the context of digitization, fostering sustainable development., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The establishment of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) has greatly improved China's carbon emission trading system. However, due to the unbalanced development of CDM in China, the effects and mechanism of CDM on reducing pollution and carbon are still unclear. In order to explore the effects and mechanism of CDM on the synergistic effects of pollution mitigation and carbon reduction, we first set up a theoretical analysis framework. Utilizing panel data from 254 prefecture-level cities across China spanning from 2004 to 2021, we employ a synergy degree model of composite system to evaluate the synergistic effects of pollution mitigation and carbon reduction. By treating CDM as a quasi-natural experimental research subject, we construct a multi-period difference-in-difference model to assess the CDM projects' effects. Our findings indicate a positive association between CDM projects and the synergistic effects of pollution mitigation and carbon reduction. Heterogeneity analysis reveals that CDM projects located in the western region, areas with lower levels of economic development, non-resource cities, non-old industrial bases, and projects with Certified Emission Reductions issued exhibit the most pronounced synergistic effects. Specially, dynamic policy effect analysis shows that only non-resource cities and non-old industrial bases exhibit enhanced policy implementation regarding CDM. Mechanism analysis demonstrates that CDM primarily enhances synergistic effects through improved energy efficiency, technological innovation and energy transition. These findings enrich empirical investigations concerning market-driven emission reduction policy in China, shedding light on pivotal pathways for synergistic control of pollution mitigation and carbon reduction and offering valuable policy insights for comprehensive economic and social green transformation in China., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Evidence of the associations between long-term exposure to PM 2.5 and O 3 and human blood lipid concentrations is abundant yet inconclusive. Whether clean air policies could improve lipid profiles remains unclear. In total, 2979312 participants from a Chinese nationwide prospective study were included. For cross-sectional analyses, linear mixed-effects models were utilized to assess the associations of pollutants with lipid profiles (TC, LDL-C, TG, HDL-C). For longitudinal analyses, a quasi-experimental design and difference-in-differences models were employed to investigate the impact of China's Clean Air Act. In the cross-sectional analyses, each IQR increase in PM 2.5 was associated with 2.49 % (95 % CI: 2.36 %, 2.62 %), 2.51 % (95 % CI: 2.26 %, 2.75 %), 3.94 % (95 % CI: 3.65 %, 4.23 %), and 1.54 % (95 % CI: 1.38 %, 1.70 %) increases in TC, LDL-C, TG, and HDL-C, respectively. For each IQR increase in O 3 , TC, LDL-C, TG, and HDL-C changed by 1.06 % (95 % CI: 0.95 %, 1.17 %), 1.21 % (95 % CI: 1.01 %, 1.42 %), 1.78 % (95 % CI: 1.54 %, 2.02 %), and -0.63 % (95 % CI: -0.76 %, -0.49 %), respectively. Longitudinal analyses showed that the intervention group experienced greater TC, LDL-C, and HDL-C reductions (1.77 %, 4.26 %, and 7.70 %, respectively). Our findings suggest that clean air policies could improve lipid metabolism and should be implemented in countries with heavy air pollution burdens., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Most environmental policy studies focus on the technical pathway effect but ignore the non-technical pathway. This paper analyzes the synergistic governance effects of three types of environmental policies on the technical and non-technical pathways. The super-efficient slacks-based measure-data envelopment analysis (SBM-DEA) assesses the green total factor productivity, while the Malmquist index decomposes into pure technical efficiency. The findings indicate that: (1) command-and-control policy has the 'too-little-of-a-good-thing' effect, but the policy intensity in most Chinese provinces is strong enough to reduce air pollution, while market-based incentive policy may be 'too-much-of-a-good-thing', but Chinese provinces have not reached the inflection point; (2) there are considerable differences in the environmental effects of different policies through technical and non-technical pathways; (3) different policies have various focuses. Command-and-control policy focuses on the non-technical pathway, whereas market-based incentive policy can induce technological progress., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests:Xiaowei Ma reports was provided by National Natural Science Foundation of China., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Establishing a reasonable cost-sharing and compensation mechanism for air pollution control is a prerequisite for realizing inter-regional cooperative treatment. Taking inter-provincial sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions in China from 2005 to 2019 as the research object, this paper proposes a data-driven approach to establish a cost-sharing index system of regional SO 2 treatment in four dimensions and construct a cost-sharing and compensation scheme using the entropy-TOPSIS method. The results revealed that there are significant spatial and temporal differences in the treatment cost of SO 2 emission, and the total SO 2 treatment costs at the national level increased first and then decreased during the study period, meanwhile, the regional SO 2 treatment costs are much higher in the less economically developed regions such as the central and western regions than in economically developed eastern coastal regions. The design of the cost-sharing and compensation mechanism of SO 2 treatment should consider the regional differences in abatement capacity, abatement potential, abatement responsibility, and development demands. The economically developed regions should share higher treatment costs according to their historical cumulative abatement responsibilities, and provide economic compensation and technical support to the less economically developed regions. Specifically, the marginal abatement cost in the more economically developed eastern region is much higher than that in the less economically developed central and western areas due to their large abatement responsibility and strong reduction capacity but insufficient abatement potential, so the eastern regions can transfer part of their abatement responsibility to the central and western regions using economic compensation. Reasonable cost sharing and horizontal compensation can help promote regional cooperation and synergistic management in air pollution abatement. Finally, corresponding policy recommendations are given to provide a decision basis for cross-regional cooperation in air pollution control., (© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Environmental justice is an important safeguard for pollution control, and this paper is interested in its ability to promote carbon emission reduction. One unique facet of reinforcing local environmental justice involves the establishment of environmental courts by Intermediate People's Courts. Taking this as the starting point, this study constructs a quasi-natural experiment to investigate the strengthening of urban environmental justice. Analyzing empirical data from 283 prefecture-level cities in China spanning 2006 to 2019, we employ multi-period and spatial difference-in-differences approaches to probe the impact of environmental justice strengthening on carbon reduction. Our results indicate a substantial contribution of strengthened environmental justice to reducing carbon emissions. Specifically, the establishment of environmental courts can curtail carbon emissions by an estimated range of 11.7 to 12.9%. Also, the mechanism analysis underscores that the carbon reduction effect primarily arises from enhanced efficiency in processing environmental cases. Moreover, this effect is notably pronounced in regions with robust governmental environmental regulations. Notably, in areas with limited public environmental concern, environmental courts effectively complement existing environmental regulations. Furthermore, a significant positive spillover effect of environmental courts on carbon emission reduction is observed in geographically adjacent economic zones., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

As an emerging force enabling high-quality economic development, digital economy (DE) still requires further investigation regarding its impact on synergistic governance of pollutants and carbon emissions (SGPCE). This study examines the impact of DE on SGPCE using two-way fixed effects model, intermediary effect model, and spatial Durbin model using provincial panel data from 2011 to 2020. The research reveals that: (1) DE has a significant promoting effect on SGPCE. (2) Enhancing the degree of green technology innovation is a crucial means of transmission for DE to propel SGPCE. (3) DE additionally exerts a constructive influence on SGPCE in adjacent regions, manifesting a spatial spillover effect. (4) Furthermore, DE demonstrates a notably heightened impact on SGPCE in the western region with respect to regional heterogeneity. Additionally, in the realm of dimension heterogeneity, the industrial digitization yields more favorable dividends for SGPCE compared to digital industrialization. The above conclusions provide novel insights and empirical evidence to validate the connection between DE and SGPCE. It also gives new policy recommendations for China to combat pollution prevention and climate warming under the wave of global digitization., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

This study employs panel data from 30 provinces and cities in China from 2004 to 2019 to empirically estimate the relationship between producer services agglomeration (PSA) and manufacturing carbon emissions. The findings suggest that such agglomeration is beneficial for lowering carbon emissions in manufacturing, and this conclusion passes multiple robustness tests. Heterogeneity analysis results show that PSA in the east and west regions significantly lowers manufacturing carbon emissions, while its impact in the central region is not significant. High-end PSA is beneficial for cutting carbon emissions in manufacturing, but the inhibitory effect of middle- and low-end PSA is not significant. PSA significantly suppresses carbon emissions from capital- and technology-intensive manufacturing, while it has little impact on carbon emissions from labor-intensive manufacturing. Further analysis reveals that PSA has a dual-threshold impact based on absorptive capacity and a single-threshold effect based on infrastructure level on manufacturing carbon emissions. As the absorption capacity crosses the second threshold or the infrastructure level crosses the first threshold, the inhibition effect of PSA on manufacturing carbon emissions begins to become prominent and shows a trend of enhancement. Our research findings provide theoretical and empirical bases for lowering carbon emissions in the manufacturing sector and fostering its ascent to the highest position of the value chain., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Yang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Climate change mitigation requires simultaneous reduction of carbon emissions and air pollution. This study examines the synergy between pollution reduction and carbon reduction, identifying key variables and strategies to achieve this goal. Using a Geographical Detector model and a Coupling Degree of Coordination model, 108 cities in the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) are investigated. Results show that while controlling PM2.5 has been more successful than managing carbon emissions in the YREB, synergy between pollution reduction and carbon emissions increased by an average of 7.2% from 2006 to 2019. Spatial analysis reveals higher synergy in upstream areas, indicating significant spatial diversity. The impact of pollution and emission reduction synergies is influenced by societal and environmental variables, including industry structure, technological innovation, energy structure, human capital quality, and economic basis. Synergy is amplified when natural limits align with high-quality development drivers such as technical innovation and the digital economy. Recommendations include enhancing city-to-city contact, improving energy and industrial structures, and fostering technological innovation to address regional variations in synergy levels., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and haze pollution are often thought to have the same origin, the burning of fossil fuels. However, their relationship is not always synergistic and may even exhibit mutual constraints. Carbon-biased technological progress has emerged as a promising approach for simultaneously achieving three goals - to reduce CO2 emissions, alleviate the haze pressure, and keep economic growth. This study empirically investigates the impact and mechanisms of carbon-biased technological progress on carbon haze collaborative governance using data from 286 Chinese cities during 2006-2021. The results indicate that: (1) Carbon biased technological progress positively influences carbon haze collaborative governance. (2) This progress achieves coordination by enhancing element allocation efficiency, carbon efficiency, and responding to public environmental demands. (3) The facilitating role of carbon biased technological progress to carbon haze collaborative governance will work better if external conditions are met. Moreover, the effectiveness of carbon-biased technological progress in promoting coordination is contingent upon high levels of marketization, government intervention, environmental regulation, and technical advancements. Local and regional governments should foster conducive conditions for carbon dioxide and haze pollution coordination, optimize the allocation and flow of carbon resources, ensure harmonization between environmental regulation policies and other sectors, and bolster international cooperation and technical knowledge exchange to collectively address global environmental challenges., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier Inc.)

Carbon emissions trading scheme (ETS) will change the internal and external operating environment of related companies, increase new carbon reduction costs, and may affect their investment behavior and decision-making. This study constructs the policy effect evaluation model to evaluate the net effect of China's ETS pilot policy on the investment efficiency of related companies in high-carbon industries. This study indicates that: first, China's ETS pilot policy has reduced the inefficient investment of related companies by 11.40% during the sample period. Second, innovation ability plays an enhanced moderating effect in the inhibitory effect of China's ETS pilot policy on the inefficient investment of related companies in the short term, but the effect is weakened in the long-term. Third, the policy effect is relatively obvious for non-state-owned companies and companies with more institutional shareholdings. This research has important reference value for the continuous improvement of China's national carbon market, and the steady transformation from simple investment-driven to investment-efficiency-driven economic development in China., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The iron and steel industry (ISI) is a significant source of sulfur dioxide and particulate matter pollution in China. Existing research on regional environmental regulation or ISI emission reduction strategies tends to overlook spillover effects and the enterprise perspective. During the heating season, production limitations in ISI are potential policy measures for achieving structural emission reductions in heavily polluted cities in China's Jing-Jin-Ji and surrounding regions. We adopt a bottom-up modeling approach, incorporating effective production time to describe enterprise behavior and establishing a quantitative trade model based on trade theory. By modeling three types of production restriction policies outlined in policy documents, we evaluate the emission reduction effects of structure-adjustment measures using the example of reduced effective production time for steel-producing enterprises in the air pollution transmission channel in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei area. The results indicate the following: (1) Reducing the effective production time of ISI enterprises can help decrease domestic production value and total factor productivity in pollution-intensive industries, including but not limited to ISI. It also leads to reduced emissions of various pollutants in the implementation regions. (2) Due to interprovincial trade and input-output linkages, structural reduction measures in certain regions have implications for almost all other provinces' industrial structures. Differences in initial industrial structures, factor endowments, and geographical locations contribute to varying directions and magnitudes of industrial structural changes. Pollution-intensive industries' share tends to increase higher in less developed regions. (3) Our estimated pollution reduction is smaller compared to the literature evaluating clean air policies in similar regions using top-down strategies. This discrepancy arises because we analyze a single policy tool rather than modeling industry-wide emission fluctuations from the top down. Additionally, our modeling approach allows us to examine dynamic changes in comparative advantages. The increase in production scale for certain industries in policy-affected regions partially offsets the decline in pollution emissions. These findings enhance our understanding of structure-adjustment reduction measures' role and highlight their potential advantages and limitations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

In response to the dual challenges of air pollution control and carbon mitigation, China has strategically shifted its focus towards the synergistic reduction of air pollutants and CO 2 emissions. This study identifies the potential areas and specific air pollutant species (including CO, NO x , and SO 2 ) for co-reduction with carbon mitigation. We also reveal the driving forces behind the emissions of each air pollutant at both the national and regional scales. Our findings are as follows: (1) The potential for synergistic reduction of CO and SO 2 with CO 2 emissions has diminished in economically developed areas. There is a significant opportunity for co-reduction of SO 2 and CO 2 in the western and northern regions of China, particularly within Heilongjiang Province. (2) NOx is the key species for synergistic reduction with CO 2 emissions across China, especially in the Chengyu Plain. (3) Cleaner production and the synergistic reduction effect are the primary contributors to national air pollutant reduction in China from 2008 to 2017. Conversely, efforts in economic development and energy efficiency have led to emission increases. Energy and industrial structures have only made limited contributions to emission reductions, and carbon mitigation shows an inhibition effect on emission reductions. These results offer valuable insights for developing targeted regional strategies for deeper air pollution control, considering the specific characteristics and needs of each region. Additionally, our findings highlight the importance of addressing policy misalignments and strengthening mutual-influence mechanisms between air pollution control and carbon mitigation, ensuring that policies for carbon reduction also effectively contribute to air quality improvements., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Chinese diesel trucks are the main contributors to NO x and particulate matter (PM) vehicle emissions. An increase in diesel trucks could aggravate air pollution and damage human health. The Chinese government has recently implemented a series of emission control technologies and measures for air quality improvement. This paper summarizes recent control technologies and measures for diesel truck emissions in China and introduces the comprehensive application of control technologies and measures in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei and surrounding regions. Remote online monitoring technology has been adopted according to the China VI standard for heavy-duty diesel trucks, and control measures such as transportation structure adjustment and heavy pollution enterprise classification control continue to support the battle action plan for pollution control. Perspectives and suggestions are provided for promoting pollution control and supervision of diesel truck emissions: adhere to the concept of overall management and control, vigorously promote the application of systematic and technological means in emission monitoring, continuously facilitate cargo transportation structure adjustment and promote new energy freight vehicles. This paper aims to accelerate the implementation of control technologies and measures throughout China. China is endeavouring to control diesel truck exhaust pollution. China is willing to cooperate with the world to protect the global ecological environment., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

China is the most important steel producer in the world, and its steel industry is one of the most carbon-intensive industries in China. Consequently, research on carbon emissions from the steel industry is crucial for China to achieve carbon neutrality and meet its sustainable global development goals. We constructed a carbon dioxide (CO 2 ) emission model for China's iron and steel industry from a life cycle perspective, conducted an empirical analysis based on data from 2019, and calculated the CO 2 emissions of the industry throughout its life cycle. Key emission reduction factors were identified using sensitivity analysis. The results demonstrated that the CO 2 emission intensity of the steel industry was 2.33 ton CO 2 /ton, and the production and manufacturing stages were the main sources of CO 2 emissions, accounting for 89.84% of the total steel life-cycle emissions. Notably, fossil fuel combustion had the highest sensitivity to steel CO 2 emissions, with a sensitivity coefficient of 0.68, reducing the amount of fossil fuel combustion by 20% and carbon emissions by 13.60%. The sensitivities of power structure optimization and scrap consumption were similar, while that of the transportation structure adjustment was the lowest, with a sensitivity coefficient of less than 0.1. Given the current strategic goals of peak carbon and carbon neutrality, it is in the best interest of the Chinese government to actively promote energy-saving and low-carbon technologies, increase the ratio of scrap steel to steelmaking, and build a new power system., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2023. Published by Elsevier B.V.)

The transformation of public consumption patterns has become a burning question, but there are few studies on public consumption patterns. Therefore, evaluating the impact of Information consumption city (ICC) policy on carbon emission efficiency holds significant implications. This study settles on 104 pilot cities in China from 2006 to 2020 to assess the impact and the response mechanism of ICC policy on carbon emission efficiency through the time-vary Difference-in-Difference (DID) model. The result shows that: (1) ICC policy significantly promotes the local carbon emission efficiency, which remains robust after a battery of sensitivity tests. (2) It improves carbon emission efficiency through production factors agglomeration effect, industrial structural changing effect, innovation promotion effect, and environmental attention effect; (3) The direct impact of ICC policy on carbon emission efficiency varies across regions with different information consumption and carbon emission base. (4) ICC can improve carbon emission efficiency through the joint implementation of smart city (SC), new urbanization (NU), ecological civilization city construction (EC), Belt and Road Initiative (BR), Broadband China (BC), low-carbon city pilot policy (LCC), and air quality standards (AQS) policy., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The Chinese government has implemented environmental regulations to address the deterioration of air quality associated with rapid industrialization. However, there is no consensus on whether environmental regulations are beneficial to environmental performance. The technical challenges related to endogeneity and spatial correlation may bias the estimation of the emission reduction effect of regulations. In this study, we comprehensively evaluate the environmental performance of sulfur dioxide regulations in Chinese cities using a novel stochastic frontier model that introduces the single control function to correct estimation errors caused by spatial spillovers and endogeneity. Our analysis emphasizes that insufficient resolution of endogeneity or spatial spillovers may lead to underestimation or neglect of the environmental performance improvements achieved by these regulations. On the contrary, our revised research results indicate that regulations aimed at reducing sulfur dioxide emissions not only successfully control sulfur dioxide emissions, but also have a positive impact on reducing carbon emissions. In addition, we conduct in-depth research on the mechanisms by which environmental regulations improve performance by stimulating green technology innovation and promoting industrial structure upgrading. Based on our research findings, we propose policy recommendations to establish a city cooperation mechanism of technology exchange to achieve synergistic emission reduction and strengthen regional factor circulation., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

China's advancements in addressing air pollution and reducing CO 2 emissions offer valuable lessons for collaborative strategies to achieve diverse environmental objectives. Previous studies have assessed the mutual benefits of climate policies and air pollution control measures on one another, lacking an integrated assessment of the benefits of synergistic control attributed to refined measures. Here, we comprehensively used coupled emission inventory and response models to evaluate the integrated benefits and synergy degrees of various measures in reducing air pollutants and CO 2 in China during 2013-2021. Results indicated that the implemented measures yielded integrated benefits value at 6.7 (2.4-12.6) trillion Chinese Yuan. The top five contributors, accounting for 55%, included promoting non-thermal power, implementing end-of-pipe control technologies in power plants and iron and steel industry, replacing residential scattered coal, and saving building energy. Measures demonstrating high synergies and integrated benefits per unit of reduction (e.g., green traffic promotion) yielded low benefits mainly due to their low application, which are expected to gain greater implementation and prioritization in the future. Our findings provide insights into the effectiveness and limitations of strategies aimed at joint control. By ranking these measures based on their benefits and synergy, we offer valuable guidance for policy development in China and other nations with similar needs.

To protect occupants in vehicle cabin environments from the health risks of high concentrations of particulate matter (PM), it is important to install vehicle cabin air filter (VCAF) to eliminate PM. In this study, we investigated the filtration performance of 22 VCAFs. Results showed that the minimum average filtration efficiency was 56.1 % for particles with a diameter of 0.1-0.3 μm, a pressure drop of 33.2-250 Pa at air velocity of 2.5 m/s, and the dust-holding capacity ranged from 5.8 to 19.4 g. In addition, as the filter area increased from 0.23 m 2 to 0.50 m 2 , the filtration efficiency for particles with a diameter of 0.1-0.3 μm increased from 56.7 % to 77.5 %, the pressure drop decreased from 96.1 to 62.5 Pa, and the dust holding capacity increased 2.7 times. Furthermore, we compared the service life of VCAF from 31 major Chinese cities and found that the service life varied greatly from maximum of 1730 h for Haikou to minimum of 352 h for Shijiazhuang. Considering occupant health risks, Beijing requires that VCAFs have PM 2.5 filtration efficiency at least 88.1 %, and Liaoning requires minimum of 97.5 %. Hence, choosing the appropriate VCAF based on the atmospheric environment of different cities deserves our attention., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

In recent years, the concentrations of ozone and the pollution days with ozone as the primary pollutant have been increasing year by year. The sources of regional ozone mainly depend on local photochemical formation and transboundary transport. The latter is influenced by different weather circulations. How to effectively reduce the inter-regional emission to control ozone pollution under different atmospheric circulation is rarely reported. In this study, we classify the atmospheric circulation of ozone pollution days from 2014 to 2019 over Central China based on the Lamb-Jenkinson method and the global analysis data of the fifth-generation European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF) Reanalysis (ERA5) operation. The effectiveness of emission control to alleviate ozone pollution under different atmospheric circulation is simulated by the WRF-Chem model. Among the 26 types of circulation patterns, 9 types of pollution days account for 79.5% of the total pollution days and further classified into 5 types. The local types (A and C type) are characterized by low surface wind speed and stable weather conditions over Central China due to a high-pressure system or a southwest vortex low-pressure system, blocking the diffusion of pollutants. Sensitivity simulations of A-type show that this heavy pollution process is mainly contributed by local emission sources. Removing the anthropogenic emission of pollutants over Central China would reduce the ozone concentration by 39.1%. The other three circulation patterns show pollution of transport characteristics affected by easterly, northerly, or southerly winds (N-EC, EC, S-EC-type). Under the EC-type, removing anthropogenic pollutants of East China would reduce the ozone concentration by 22.7% in Central China., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

The pollutant emissions of diesel-powered heavy-duty trucks (HDTs) seriously damage the air quality. The promotion of hydrogen fuel cell HDTs through purchase subsidy policy to reduce emissions has become an important approach to control air pollution. This study focuses on the impact of hydrogen fuel cell HDT purchase subsidies on air quality in the context of China, covering the panel data of 31 Chinese cities from 2014 to 2021 and applying a two-way fixed effects model to analyze the contribution of purchase subsidies and hydrogen refueling station construction subsidies to air quality. Results show that (1) the increase in purchase subsidies could improve the air quality by around 6.1% and there is a lag effect. (2) Purchase subsidies make a larger contribution to air quality compared with construction subsidies. (3) Purchase subsidies can improve air quality by reducing carbon emissions in transport industry. In sight of these results, policy makers should emphasize the implementation of purchase subsidies and hydrogen refueling station construction subsidies and stimulate manufacturers to improve the performance of hydrogen fuel cell so as to contribute more to the environment., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This study delves into the impact of digital inclusive finance on environmental pollution, with a specific focus on air pollution. Utilizing data from 265 Chinese cities, advanced econometric methods such as the bi-directional fixed effects model, threshold model, spatial Durbin model, and multi-period difference-in-differences model are employed, incorporating a variety of control variables. The empirical findings indicate that digital inclusive finance significantly reduces air pollution. This mechanism chiefly operates through enhancing public environmental consciousness and fostering green technological innovation. The study also uncovers the spatial spillover effect and non-linear characteristics of digital inclusive finance on air pollution, along with its interactive effects with specific policies (e.g., smart city pilot policies and the "major protection, no major development" initiative). Moreover, heterogeneity analysis reveals regional variations in the environmental effects of digital inclusive finance. These insights provide a novel perspective on the relationship between financial technology and environmental protection and offer crucial guidance for policymaking., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Wang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

In light of the recent worldwide scientific and technological revolution, it is imperative that urban infrastructure undergo a digital transformation in order to lower carbon emissions and support sustainable urban growth. However, to date, there is a lack of empirical research on carbon emissions based on the digital transformation of urban infrastructure. This paper uses data from 178 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2020 to study the impact of digital transformation of urban infrastructure on carbon emissions based on the "local-neighbourhood" perspective using a spatial difference-in-differences model. The results show that the digital transformation of urban infrastructure reduces the intensity of local carbon emissions while also reducing the carbon emissions of neighbouring cities, with a spatial spillover effect, and the boundary of this spatial spillover is 600 km. Mechanistic analyses suggest that digital transformation of urban infrastructure can reduce carbon emissions locally as well as in nearby areas by promoting green technological innovations. In light of this, this study has important policy implications for maximising the contribution of digital transformation of infrastructure to reducing carbon emissions., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Song et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

Reducing air pollutants and CO 2 emissions from energy utilization is crucial for achieving the dual objectives of clean air and carbon neutrality in China. Thus, an optimized health-oriented strategy is urgently needed. Herein, by coupling a CO 2 and air pollutants emission inventory with response surface models for PM 2.5 -associated mortality, we shed light on the effectiveness of protecting human health and co-CO 2 benefit from reducing fuel-related emissions and generate a health-oriented strategy for the Yangtze River Delta (YRD). Results reveal that oil consumption is the primary contributor to fuel-related PM 2.5 pollution and premature deaths in the YRD. Significantly, curtailing fuel consumption in transportation is the most effective measure to alleviate the fuel-related PM 2.5 health impact, which also has the greatest cobenefits for CO 2 emission reduction on a regional scale. Reducing fuel consumption will achieve substantial health improvements especially in eastern YRD, with nonroad vehicle emission reductions being particularly impactful for health protection, while on-road vehicles present the greatest potential for CO 2 reductions. Scenario analysis confirms the importance of mitigating oil consumption in the transportation sector in addressing PM 2.5 pollution and climate change.

Urban road traffic is one of the primary sources of carbon emissions. Previous studies have demonstrated the close relationship between traffic flow characteristics and carbon emissions (CO2). However, the impact of dynamic traffic distribution on carbon emissions is rarely empirically studied on the network level. To fill this gap, this study proposes a dynamic network carbon emissions estimation method. The network-level traffic emissions are estimated by combining macroscopic emission models and recent advances in dynamic network traffic flow modeling, namely, Macroscopic Fundamental Diagram. The impact of traffic distribution and the penetration of battery electric vehicles on total network emissions are further investigated using the Monte Carlo method. The results indicate the substantial effect of network traffic distribution on carbon emissions. Using the urban expressway network in Ningbo as an example, in the scenario of 100% internal combustion engine vehicles, increasing the standard deviation of link-level traffic density from 0 to 15 veh/km-ln can result in an 8.9% network capacity drop and a 15.5% reduction in network carbon emissions. This effect can be moderated as the penetration rate of battery electric vehicles increases. Based on the empirical and simulating evidence, different expressway pollution management strategies can be implemented, such as petrol vehicle restrictions, ramp metering, congestion pricing, and perimeter control strategies., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Zhang et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

In light of the pressing need to reduce carbon emissions, the biomass power generation industry has gained significant attention and has increasingly become a crucial focus in China. However, there are still considerable gaps in the historical background, status, and prospects of biomass power generation. Herein, the historical and current status of biomass power generation in China are systematically reviewed, with a particular emphasis on supportive policies, environmental impacts, and future projections. By 2022, the newly installed capacity for biomass power generation reached 3.34 MW with a total installed capacity of 41 MW. The power produced from biomass power generation is 182.4 billion kWh in China. The total installed capacity and generated power in 2022 were 1652 and 1139 folds higher than in 2006 when the first biomass generation plant was established. However, disparities in the distribution of biomass resources and power generation were observed. Key drivers of the industry development include tax, finance, and subsidy policies. Under the implementation of the 14th Five-Year Plan for renewable energy development and the goal of carbon neutrality, biomass power generation may achieve great success through more targeted policy support and advanced technologies that reduce air pollutant emissions. If combined with Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage (BECCS) technology, biomass power generation will make its contribution to carbon neutrality in China., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Governmental policies, regulations, and responses to the pandemic can benefit from a better understanding of people's resulting behaviours before, during, and after COVID-19. To avoid the inelasticity and subjectivity of survey datasets, several studies have already used some objective variables like air pollutants to estimate the potential impacts of COVID-19 on the urban transportation system. However, the usage of reactant gases and a narrow time scale might weaken the results somehow. Here, both the objective passenger volume of public transport and the concentration of private traffic emitted black carbon (BC) from 2018 to 2023 were collected/calculated to decipher the potential relationship between public and private traffic during the COVID-19 period. Our results indicated that the commuting patterns of citizens show significant (p < 0.01) different patterns before, during, and after the pandemic. To be specific, public transportation showed a significant (p < 0.01) positive correlation with private transportation before the pandemic. This public transportation was significantly (p < 0.01) affected by the outbreaks of COVID-19, showing a significant (p < 0.01) negative correlation with private transportation. Such impacts of the virus and governmental policy would affect the long-term behaviour of individuals and even affect public transportation usage after the pandemic. Our results also indicated that such behaviour was mainly linked to the governmental restriction policy and would soon be neglected after the cancellation of the restriction policy in China., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

When ecology thrives, civilization thrives, and when ecology declines, civilization declines. Based on panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2000 to 2021, this study used marginal abatement costs to estimate the co-benefits of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. Two-way fixed effect and two-stage intermediary effect models were used to evaluate the impact of digital technology on co-benefits and its indirect channels. The results indicated that China's total carbon emissions maintained a steady growth trend, while air pollution showed a fluctuating declining trend. Reaching peak carbon neutrality calls for more innovative solutions. Under joint emission reduction efforts, the study revealed marginal abatement cost savings of 535.8 million yuan/million tons and 6216.5 million yuan/μg/m 3 for carbon reduction and pollution reduction, respectively. Most importantly, the study confirmed that joint emission reduction programs can reduce environmental governance costs more than individual emission reductions can, and the co-benefits increased from 37.983 to 44.757. The co-benefits generally showed a trend of fluctuation and increases and had the characteristics of phased transformation. Intragroup differences and cross-overlapping between regions made regional differences in co-benefits obvious. The subversive, permeable, and integrated features of digital technology have resulted in the all-around transformation of the economy and society, and the new technology-economy paradigm has significantly improved co-benefits. The conclusion remains valid after robustness testing and controlling for endogeneity problems. The results of the mechanism analysis suggest that digital technology can indirectly improve synergies through the intermediary channels of fostering green technology innovation, reducing energy consumption intensity and improving the energy structure., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.)

Ecological well-being performance (EWP), a novel concept in sustainable development research, diverges from traditional ecological efficiency in terms of perspectives, core content, and driving factors. However, research on EWP remains insufficiently comprehensive, particularly the corresponding theoretical and methodological investigations into driving pathways. To address this gap, this study develops an "economy-environment-health" framework, incorporating air pollution and associated health losses into the evaluation system, and employs a two-stage Super-NSBM and Window DEA model for reevaluating EWP. The study further investigates the primary pathways of EWP, focusing on environmental regulations, technological innovation, and structural adjustments through both quantitative and qualitative methods. Quantitative spatial econometric analysis reveals that factors such as market-driven environmental regulations, green invention patents, and industrial and energy consumption structures significantly enhance EWP. While examining the "net effects" contributions of individual variables using spatial econometric models, the fsQCA method is employed to identify four effective driving paths for EWP from a configurational perspective. These paths are 1) technological innovation and structural adjustment under environmental regulations with public participation; 2) a combination of environmental regulation, technological innovation, and structural adjustment; 3) structural adjustment with minimal influence from environmental regulations and technological innovation; and 4) structural adjustment directed by market-incentive environmental regulations., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest We declare that we do not have any commercial or associative interest that represents a conflict of interest in connection with the work submitted., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

China's carbon emission trading policy plays a crucial role in achieving both its "3060" dual carbon objectives and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 13 (SDG 13) on climate action. The policy's effectiveness in reducing pollution and mitigating carbon emissions holds significant importance. This paper investigated whether China's carbon emission trading policy affects pollution reduction (PM 2.5 and SO 2 ) and carbon mitigation (CO 2 ) in pilot regions, using panel data from 30 provinces and municipalities in China from 2005 to 2019 and employing a multi-period difference-in-differences (DID) model. Furthermore, it analyzed the heterogeneity of carbon market mechanisms and regional variations. Finally, it examined the governance pathways for pollution reduction and carbon mitigation from a holistic perspective. The results indicate that: (1) China's carbon emission trading policy has reduced CO 2 emissions by 18% and SO 2 emissions by 36% in pilot areas, with an immediate impact on the "carbon mitigation" effect, while the "pollution reduction" effect exhibits a time lag. (2) Higher carbon trading prices lead to stronger "carbon mitigation" effect, and larger carbon market scales are associated with greater "pollution reduction" effects on PM 2.5 . Governance effects on pollution reduction and carbon mitigation vary among pilot regions: Carbon markets of Beijing, Chongqing, Shanghai, and Tianjin show significant governance effects in both "pollution reduction" and "carbon mitigation", whereas Guangdong's carbon market exhibits only a "pollution reduction" effect, and Hubei's carbon market demonstrates only a "carbon mitigation" effect. (3) Currently, China's carbon emission trading policy achieves pollution reduction and carbon mitigation through "process management" and "end-of-pipe treatment". This study could provide empirical insights and policy implications for pollution reduction and carbon mitigation, as well as for the development of China's carbon emission trading market., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

In light of China's objectives for carbon peak and carbon neutrality, there is an opportunity for fintech to leverage its technological advantages and enhance its integration with green finance (GF). This can bring about enhanced coverage and precision of financial services for green industries, facilitating the transformation towards a sustainable, greener, and low-carbon real economy. We investigate how fintech development influences the carbon emission reduction effects of GF utilizing a two-way fixed effects model with a panel dataset covering 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2020. Our findings indicate that the negative impact of GF on carbon emissions (CE) is heightened in areas with high levels of fintech development. Furthermore, we notice regional disparities in how fintech development impacts the effectiveness of GF in reducing CE. Specifically, fintech has a statistically significant impact in the central and western regions, whereas its significance is absent in the eastern region. Lastly, our mechanism analysis reveals that fintech plays a vital role in enhancing GF's capacity to mitigate CE, which is achieved through channels of promoting green technology innovation (GTI), alleviating corporate financing constraints (FC), and optimizing energy structure (ES). These findings provide compelling evidence for the positive effect of fintech on the environment and offer justification for promoting the development of fintech and GF., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Facing the dual pressures of the exacerbation of global climate change and the deterioration of the domestic environment caused by pollution, China has clearly adopted environmental regulatory measures to improve the climate environment. One measure is the carbon emissions trading scheme (CETS), which serves as a notable example of the country's efforts to improve the climate environment. We gathered panel data from 285 prefecture-level cities in China from 2005 to 2018 and used the Difference-in-Differences (DID) model to empirically examine the synergistic effects of the CETS on carbon emissions and air pollution. The results indicate that CETS have been effective in reducing urban carbon emissions by approximately 9.8%. Additionally, the schemes have caused a simultaneous reduction in particulate matter (PM) 2.5 emissions by 11.7% and sulfur dioxide (SO 2 ) emissions by approximately 9.7%, mitigating urban air pollution in China. It demonstrates that the scheme has significant synergistic effects on carbon emissions and air pollution. To achieve synergistic effects of CETS, effective measures include reducing energy intensity and upgrading the industrial structure. The implementation of CETS had heterogeneity in different conditions, and the synergistic effect of the scheme is more significant in eastern regions, large cities, and the final industrial stage. Our findings offer innovative solutions for the integrated management of carbon emissions and air pollution and provide valuable insights for policymakers to enhance China's CETS. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2024;20:1112-1124. © 2023 SETAC., (© 2023 SETAC.)

This study addresses the pressing need for cost-effective emission reduction strategies that maximize co-benefits in terms of air pollution and carbon emissions. Our research contributes to the literature by accurately measuring these co-benefits, thereby facilitating their prompt realization in different regions. We employ an input-output framework that integrates carbon emissions and air pollution, allowing us to calculate marginal abatement costs using the shadow price of undesired output. Through this approach, we quantify the co-benefits and analyze the factors influencing them at both spatiotemporal and factor levels using spatial kernel density and geographical detectors. Our findings reveal several key insights: (1) under joint emission reduction efforts, we observe average annual reduction rates of 6.46% for marginal pollution and 6.10% for carbon reduction costs. Importantly, we document an increase in co-benefits from 0.50 to 0.86, characterized by an initial fluctuation followed by a linear increase. (2) the marginal cost difference for carbon emission and pollution reduction in western China was 179.45 and 155.08 respectively, compared to 321.51 and 124.70 in the Northeast, highlighting the crucial role of regional differences in shaping co-benefit outcomes. (3) we identify a negative spatial spillover effect between provinces, which diminishes over time, leading to heterogeneous effects when local provincial co-benefits exceed a threshold of 0.9. (4) during the adjustment period, we find that the industrial structure exerts significant single and interactive effects on co-benefits. Additionally, we highlight the critical role of environmental governance investment and government intervention as drivers of co-benefits in the current era. By offering the quantification of co-benefits under the marginal abatement costs, our study provides valuable scientific insights for planning and implementing effective synergy strategies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Exploring whether informal environmental regulations (INER) can achieve carbon reduction in the context of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, as well as how to achieve carbon reduction, can help solve the dual failures of the market and government in environmental protection. Based on the polycentric governance theory and considering the characteristics of social subject environmental participation, the Stackelberg game is used to demonstrate the impact mechanism of INER on CO 2 . In addition, using the panel data of China's 30 provinces from 2003 to 2018, this paper validates the effectiveness of INER by Pooled Ordinary Least Square (POLS) and threshold panel model. Then, the mediating effect model is used to test the mechanism of INER's effect on carbon reduction. The results show that corruption is not conducive to CO 2 reduction. The reduction effect of INER on CO 2 exhibits heterogeneity with changes in other non-greenhouse gas pollutants. While INER effectively reduces local corruption, its more substantial indirect impact on CO 2 reduction is prominent when levels of other pollutants are lower. Comparative analysis reveals that there are still biased governance behaviors to cope with INER's pressure in some regions nowadays. The findings show that for countries facing the dual task of pollution control and carbon reduction, the key to leveraging the supervisory role of INER should be focused on mitigating information asymmetry caused by the characteristics of CO 2 . Therefore, in the process of environmental protection, the public environmental participation system should be improved, and the process of disclosing polluters' carbon information should be accelerated., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

The digital economy is a crucial focus for realizing the transformation of old and new kinetic energy in China. It is widely integrated with various fields of the economy and society, constantly providing a new dynamic mechanism with synergetic control of environmental pollution and carbon emissions (SCEPCE). Based on panel data from 292 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2021, this study discusses the spatial effects and mechanisms of the digital economy on the coordinated control of pollutants and carbon emissions. The study found that: (1) The digital economy has direct and indirect influences on the coordinated control of pollutants and carbon emissions. The digital economy can drive reductions in pollutants and carbon dioxide emissions by upgrading industrial structures and transforming energy structures. (2) Green innovation plays an active regulatory role in the digital economy and structural optimization, particularly in the context of SCEPCE. This interference helps mitigate the impact of the digital economy on pollution and carbon emissions. (3) The digital economy has a significant spatial spillover effect on the coordinated control of pollutants and carbon emissions. (4) The influence mechanism of the digital economy on pollution reduction and carbon reduction synergy exhibits geographical heterogeneity, resource endowment heterogeneity. To enhance the synergy of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, it is essential to bolster support and optimise the digital economy at various levels. This includes reinforcing regional balance, considering spatial spillover effects, and enhancing the leading role of developed cities in the region., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

China is transitioning into the digital economy era. The advancement of the digital economy could offer a fresh mechanism to attain carbon peak and carbon neutrality objectives. Applications of the digital economy, such as smart energy management, intelligent transport systems, and digital agricultural technologies, have significantly reduced carbon emissions by optimizing resource use, reducing energy waste, and improving production efficiency. This research does so by devising a theoretical model that looks into the multi-faceted power of the digital economy under a two-sector paradigm. Utilising a panel model, a mediation effect model and a spatial Durbin model to assess the digital economy's power on carbon emissions. This research has determined that the digital economy can significantly diminish carbon emissions, with green tech innovations and industrial transformation being key contributors. The spatial spillover effect was used for the digital economy to aid in lowering carbon emissions in adjacent districts and upgrading better environmental stewardship. The influence of the digital economy has better performance in lowering carbon emissions in mid-western China than in the eastern area. This paper deepens understanding of the drivers of low-carbon growth and the significance, mechanism and regional disparities of the digital economy's effect on reducing carbon emissions. It offers valuable policy insights and guidance for globally achieving digital economy growth, reducing carbon emissions and reaching carbon peak and neutrality goals., Competing Interests: The authors have declared that no competing interests exist., (Copyright: © 2024 Chen et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.)

This study addresses critical gaps in supply chain management (SCM) by integrating emission-risk minimization (ERM), green purchasing (GP), and profit maximization (PM). The research focuses on the optimal behaviors of manufacturers, agents, and retailers within the SCM framework to achieve carbon neutrality and reduce carbon dioxide emissions (CO 2 e). This study considers Guangdong province, China, a region facing challenges in optimizing energy systems and meeting CO 2 e reduction targets. Simulation-based optimization techniques within mathematical models are employed. A design of experiment (DOE) method was used to explore the dynamics of key variables in the SCM environment. Results reveal optimal behaviors for manufacturers, agents, and retailers, demonstrating the ideal values for profit and pricing decisions. Manufacturers optimize production quantity, achieving CO2e reduction and PM through ERM. Agents exhibit a strong commitment to GP practices, enhancing PM and carbon-neutral goals. Retailers get more PM than manufacturers and agents, contributing to a clean environment. Interestingly, retailers make contributions to the clean environment without considering ERM and GP in SCM. The study contributes novel insights by addressing the identified gap in SCM research, emphasizing the joint consideration of ERM, GP, and PM. This research assists manufacturers, agents, and retailers in terms of PM for economic objectives. It cleans the environment through carbon-neutral SCM in society., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare the following financial interests/personal relationships which may be considered as potential competing interests: Jafar Hussain reports was provided by Nanchang Institute of Technology. Chien Chiang lee reports a relationship with Nanchang University that includes:. Data availability statement: Data are available from the authors upon reasonable request. Declaration of competing interest: None. Ethical approval: This article does not contain any studies with human participants or animals performed by any of the authors. Funding: All authors are grateful to the National Social Science Foundation Key Project of China for financial support through Grant No: 22AJL004, National Natural Science Fund of China (Grant No: 71831005), and Shenzhen Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences (Grant No: P191001). This research is supported by the Shenzhen Science and Technology Program (Grant No: KCXST20221021111404010) and Shenzhen Humanities & Social Sciences Key Research Bases (Grant No: KP191001). If there are other authors, they declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

To confront the challenges posed by air pollution and climate change, China has undertaken significant initiatives to develop strategies that address both issues concurrently. However, the health benefits of these initiatives have not been clearly articulated. In this study, the dynamic changes in health impacts under air pollution and carbon reduction actions in China are evaluated by employing the latest concentration-response models and projected PM 2.5 concentrations under future scenarios. From 2020 to 2060, the enforcement of clean air and climate mitigation policies is expected to increase the percentage of the population living with PM 2.5 concentrations meeting the 10 μg/m 3 standard by 79 %. Without the implementation of relevant mitigation measures, PM 2.5 -associated deaths are projected to double due to an aging population. In comparison to the 2060 reference scenario, the joint implementation of clean air and carbon neutrality measures is expected to reduce nationwide PM 2.5 -associated mortality by 62 %, equivalent to 2.15 (95 % CI: 1.80-2.48) million deaths. Stringent pollution controls are crucial for reducing PM 2.5 -associated deaths before 2030, after which carbon neutrality actions become increasingly significant from 2030 to 2060. The challenges of mitigating future PM 2.5 -associated deaths vary greatly across regions, showing a critical response to pollution control and carbon reduction. The research proves the effectiveness of China's future air pollution control and carbon reduction policies in mitigating PM 2.5 -associated deaths., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.)

The carbon generalized system of preferences (CGSP) is an innovative incentive mechanism implemented by the Chinese government, which has also become an important part of carbon emission reduction at the living end, and it is of great significance to study whether the Pilot Policy can reduce the carbon emissions of residents. This study firstly accounts for the total carbon emissions and per capita carbon emissions of the residents of 284 cities in China, and on this basis, adopts the SCM method to quantitatively study and analyze the overall and local implementation effects of CGSP in China by taking the first batch of CGSP pilots in China as an example, and further applies the mediation effect model to test the pathways of the role of CGSP. The main findings of the study are as follows: (1) During the period of 2010-2020, the total carbon emissions from urban residents' living in China showed a yearly growth trend, from 36,623.98 ×10 -2 Mt in 2010-85,241.20 ×10 -2 Mt in 2020, an increase of 8.83%. Total carbon emissions present a structural difference of "electricity consumption > central heating > private transport > gas (oil, natural gas) consumption". (2) Overall, the implementation of the CGSP had a robust positive impact on the overall carbon emission reduction in the pilot cities, with an average annual emission reduction effect value of 36.53 ×10 -2 Mt. Locally, the annual net policy effect values of Dongguan, Zhongshan, Heyuan, and Guangzhou are 6169.79 ×10 -2 , 26,600.17 ×10 -2 , 17,081.34 ×10 -2 and 9393.36 ×10 -2 Mt respectively. (3) CGSP has a good carbon emission reduction effect by suppressing the impact on residents' carbon emissions through enhancing the city's innovation capacity and promoting electricity saving and consumption reduction, while the mediating effect played by the promotion of green and low-carbon travel in the pilot policy is not significant. Finally, based on the research findings, relevant suggestions are targeted., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

As the cornerstone of the digital economy, the construction of digital infrastructure plays a crucial role in promoting China's high-quality economic growth.. Against the backdrop of the "dual-carbon" goals, the development of digital infrastructure will provide new momentum for carbon emissions reduction in urban areas. This study utilizes unbalanced panel data from 277 prefecture-level cities in China between 2008 and 2019, treating the smart city construction as a quasi-natural experiment, to systematically evaluate the impact of the pilot construction of smart city on urban carbon emissions intensity. The research findings reveal that the construction of the smart city has significantly contributed to the reduction of urban carbon emissions intensity, indicating that digital infrastructure contributes to urban carbon emission reduction. The reduction of carbon emissions resulting from smart city construction is particularly significant in the East and Central regions., as well as regions with high financial development levels, regions with high human capital levels and non resource-based cities. The construction of the smart city primarily achieves the reduction of urban carbon emissions intensity through two main pathways: improving the penetration rate of digital infrastructure and enhancing technological innovation capability. Therefore, this study recommends that local governments strengthen the integration and penetration of digital infrastructure with traditional industries, foster urban innovation vitality, and accelerate the transformation towards green and low-carbon cities., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Severe ozone (O 3 ) pollution has been a major air quality issue and affects environmental sustainability in China. Conventional mitigation strategies focusing on reducing volatile organic compounds and nitrogen oxides (NO x ) remain complex and challenging. Here, through field flux measurements and laboratory simulations, we observe substantial nitrous acid (HONO) emissions ( F HONO ) enhanced by nitrogen fertilizer application at an agricultural site. The observed F HONO significantly improves model performance in predicting atmospheric HONO and leads to regional O 3 increases by 37%. We also demonstrate the significant potential of nitrification inhibitors in reducing emissions of reactive nitrogen, including HONO and NO x , by as much as 90%, as well as greenhouse gases like nitrous oxide by up to 60%. Our findings introduce a feasible concept for mitigating O 3 pollution: reducing soil HONO emissions. Hence, this study has important implications for policy decisions related to the control of O 3 pollution and climate change.

A remarkable progress has been made toward the air quality improvements over the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) of China from 2017 to 2020. In this study, for the first time, the emission reductions of regional control measures together with the COVID-19 pandemic were considered simultaneously into the development of the GBA's emission inventories for the years of 2017 and 2020. Based on these collective emission inventories, the impacts of control measures, meteorological variations together with temporary COVID-19 lockdowns on the five major air quality index pollutants (SO 2 , NO 2 , PM 2.5 , PM 10 , and O 3 , excluding CO) were evaluated using the WRF-CMAQ and SMAT-CE model attainment assessment tool over the GBA region. Our results revealed that control measures in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region affected significantly the GBA, resulting in pollutant reductions ranging from 48 % to 64 %. In contrast, control measures in Hong Kong and Macao contributed to pollutant reductions up to 10 %. In PRD emission sectors, stationary combustion, on-road, industrial processes and dust sectors stand out as the primary contributors to overall air quality improvements. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic during period I (Jan 23-Feb 23) led to a reduction of NO 2 concentration by 7.4 %, resulting in a negative contribution (disbenefit) for O 3 with an increase by 2.4 %. Our findings highlight the significance of PRD control measures for the air quality improvements over the GBA, emphasizing the necessity of implementing more refined and feasible manageable joint prevention and control policies., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Achieving the United nations 2030 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) remains a significant challenge, necessitating urgent and prioritized strategies. Among the various challenges, air pollution continues to pose one of the most substantial threats to the SDGs due to its widespread adverse effects on human health and ecosystems. However, the connections between air pollution and the SDGs have often been overlooked. This study reveals that out of the 169 SDG targets, 71 are adversely impacted by air pollution, while only 6 show potential positive effects. In China, two major atmospheric nitrogen pollutants, ammonia and nitrogen oxides, resulted in an economic loss of 400 billion United States Dollar (USD) in 2020, which could be reduced by 33% and 34% by 2030, respectively. It would enhance the progress towards SDGs in China by 14%, directly contributing to the achievement of SDGs 1 to 6 and 11 to 15. This improvement is estimated to yield overall benefits totaling 119 billion USD, exceeded the total implementation cost of 82 billion USD with ammonia as the preferential mitigation target. This study underscores the importance of robust scientific evidence in integrated policies aimed at aligning improvements in environmental quality with the priorities of sustainable development., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

"National Civilized City" (NCC) is regarded as China's highest honorary title and most valuable city brand. To win and maintain the "golden city" title, municipal governments must pay close attention to various key appraisal indicators, mainly environmental ones. In this study we verify whether cities with the title are more likely to mitigate SO 2 pollution. We adopt the spatial Durbin difference-in-differences (DID) model and use panel data of 283 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2018 to analyze the local (direct) and spillover effects (indirect) of the NCC policy on SO 2 pollution. We find that SO 2 pollution in Chinese cities is not randomly distributed in geography, suggesting the existence of spatial spillovers and possible biased estimates. Our study treats the NCC policy as a quasi-experiment and incorporates spatial spillovers of NCC policy into a classical DID model to verify this assumption. Our findings show: (1) The spatial distribution of SO 2 pollution represents strong spatial spillovers, with the most highly polluted regions mainly situated in the North China Plain. (2) The Moran's I test results confirms significant spatial autocorrelation. (3) Results of the spatial Durbin DID models reveal that the civilized cities have indeed significantly mitigated SO 2 pollution, indicating that cities with the honorary title are acutely aware of the environment in their bid to maintain the golden city brand. As importantly, we notice that the spatial DID term is also significant and negative, implying that neighboring civilized cities have also mitigated their own SO 2 pollution. Due to demonstration and competition effects, neighboring cities that won the title ostensibly motivates local officials to adopt stringent policies and measures for lowering SO 2 pollution and protecting the environment in competition for the golden title. The spatial autoregressive coefficient was significant and positive, indicating that SO 2 pollution of local cities has been deeply affected by neighbors. A series of robustness check tests also confirms our conclusions. Policy recommendations based on the findings for protecting the environment and promoting sustainable development are proposed., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

As an important way for China to achieve its dual-carbon goal, green finance has become the foundation for promoting high-quality economic development in China. In order to clarify the mechanism of green finance on carbon emissions, this paper puts green finance into the economic model and deduces the relationship between green finance and carbon emission reduction. This paper is based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China (excluding Tibet, Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan) from 2008 to 2019, using the individual fixed effect model, dynamical model, mediator model, and SDM model to study the impact of green finance on carbon emissions and its impact path of upgrading of the industrial structure and the development of science and technology based on the measurement of the green finance development index of each province by the entropy method. The findings show that the development of green finance can reduce carbon emission significantly, which can be sustained until at least the third phase and generates spatial spillover effects; regional heterogeneity analysis finds that the development of green finance shows geographical discrepancies: compared with the eastern and western regions, the development of green finance in central region can reduce carbon emissions more significantly; not only can the development of green finance directly reduce carbon emission, but also through the upgrading of industrial structure and technological innovation. The research not only provides a new perspective and supplementary empirical evidence for understanding the carbon emission reduction effect of green finance, but also offers some useful references for green finance to contribute to carbon emission reduction., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

Livestock is one of major sources of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China. Clarifying spatiotemporal characteristics of GHG emissions from livestock and exploring influencing factors can provide reference for grasping regional changes of GHG emission and formulate strategies of carbon reduction for livestock industry. However, existing literatures considered both spatial and temporal impacts and dynamic evolution trend of these factors seldomly. This paper used the life cycle assessment (LCA) method to estimate GHG emissions of livestock in 114 cities of the YRB from 2000 to 2021. On this basis, spatiotemporal heterogeneity of influencing factors was analyzed by using geographically and temporally weighted regression (GTWR) model. Finally, future evolution trend of GHG emissions from livestock was predicted by combining traditional and spatial Markov chain. Four main results were listed as follows. Firstly, GHG emission in the life cycle of livestock industry increased from 57.202 million tons (Mt) carbon dioxide equivalent (CO 2 e) in 2000 to 77.568 Mt CO 2 e in 2021. Secondly, structure of livestock industry, labor flow and mechanization were vital factors that led to increase of GHG emissions from livestock. Positive effects of labor flow and mechanization were increasing year by year, while negative effect of urbanization and positive effect of economic development were decreasing year by year. Markov chain analysis shown that probability of keeping high level of GHG emissions of livestock in the YRB unchanged were 96% (T = 1) and 90% (T = 5), and there also existed a Matthew effect. In addition, probability of level transfer of GHG emission in urban livestock was spatially dependent. Government should formulate strategies for livestock development and optimize low-carbon transformation of energy structure for livestock and poultry husbandry based on local conditions and key driving factors in the future. Meanwhile, boundaries of administrative divisions should be broken to promote reduction of GHG emissions in livestock comprehensively., Competing Interests: Declaration of competing interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

The construction sector accounts for 23% of CO 2 emissions from global economic activity, with China responsible for nearly 41%. Although China has vigorously promoted the development of prefabricated buildings (PBS) in pursuit of cleaner production, the carbon emissions from prefabricated component factories (PCF) should not be underestimated. So, the focus of this research was on how to promote the decarbonization of PCF. Based on the carbon trading market mechanism, the carbon emissions trading tax and revenue tax collection, the authors established a differential game model consisting of the local government and the PCF, studied the equilibrium solutions under different decision models, and analyzed the roles of the two tax systems, carbon trading revenue, and market preferences. The results are as follows: (1) The PCF's low-carbon technology (LCT) innovation efforts can be directly affected by the carbon price, component price, and tax rate and indirectly affected by influencing the local government's efforts. Besides, the local government and the PCF strategies can be changed through the central government's regulation of carbon prices and tax rates. (2) PCF should set reasonable prices for components, improving economic efficiency and the LCT stocks. (3) Cost-sharing contracts can encourage PCF to increase their LCT innovation, which is conducive to increasing the optimal benefits of the PCF. (4) The local government cannot be motivated by cost-sharing contracts. They can increase their optimal benefits only if the cost-sharing coefficient is below a threshold or if the environmental benefits from low-carbon production are above a specific value., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.)

This paper looks at the relationship between enterprise size and pollution abatement costs using firm-level datasets in China, where size-dependent distortions may exist in the distribution of enterprises of different sizes. We find that the pollution abatement costs decrease with enterprise size. Compared to the smallest size, the magnitudes of marginal decreases in pollution abatement costs per 1000 CNY of industrial output in the largest size are 3.29 CNY, 0.54 CNY and 2.60 CNY for gas, SO 2 and dust, respectively. Moreover, we further explore the potential mechanisms for the decrease of pollution abatement costs from three perspectives: environmental protection-related investment, regulation intensity, and technological capability. Our findings suggest that the decrease in the intensity of environmental protection-related investment for large enterprises may be directly reduce the intensity of pollution abatement costs. Although large enterprises have low intensity of pollution abatement costs, this does not mean that they are subject to weaker environmental regulation. More importantly, we find that large enterprises may have more adoption of abatement technologies. For SO 2 and dust, the pollutant removal efficiency of the largest enterprises is 4.92% and 1.82% higher than that of the smallest enterprises, respectively. Our results are robust to different specifications. These findings help us enact appropriate policies for enterprises based on their size, thereby improving the efficacy of pollution abatement and achieving the optimal level of pollution abatement for the entire society., (© 2024. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)