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Clarifying the relationship among green investment, clean energy consumption, carbon emissions, and economic growth: a provincial panel analysis of China

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Abstract

As a financial activity with the main purpose of ecological protection and environmental governance, green investment has important practical significance for promoting sustainable economic development. Previous studies have not addressed the relationship between green investment, clean energy consumption, carbon emissions, and economic growth. We use panel data from 30 provinces and cities in China from 2003 to 2017 to build a simultaneous equation model, which can evaluate the nonlinear relationship and avoid the endogeneity of the model. The research results show that, firstly, green investment has a significant positive impact on clean energy consumption and economic growth. However, it has no significant effect on carbon dioxide emissions. Second, the curve of clean energy consumption and per capita GDP conforms to the positive U-shaped characteristic, while the curve of carbon emissions and per capita GDP conforms to the EKC curve, meeting the inverted U-shaped characteristic. And the inflection point of clean energy use occurred earlier than the inflection point of CO2 emissions. When per capita GDP is greater than 105,735.93 (RMB), the use of clean energy will increase, and carbon dioxide emissions will decrease, thereby achieving a win-win situation for the environment and the economy. Finally, according to the survey results, it is suggested that green investment is an effective means to encourage clean energy consumption and economic growth.

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Availability of data and materials

All data generated or analyzed during this study are included in its supplementary information files.

Funding

This work was supported by the Guangzhou City Philosophy and Social Science Planning 2019 Project (no. 2019GZGJ221) and  Guangdong Provincial University Key Platform Youth Innovation Project “Research on the Mechanism and Countermeasures of Green Finance to Promote Energy Strcture Transformation” (no.2021WQNCX112) .

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Business, Macau University of Science and Technology, Macau, China

    Yuanyuan Wan & Ni Sheng

  2. School of Economics and Trade, Guangzhou Xinhua University, Guangzhou, Guangdong, China

    Yuanyuan Wan

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  1. Yuanyuan Wan
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  2. Ni Sheng
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This idea was given by Yuanyuan Wan and Ni Sheng. Yuanyuan Wan analyzed the data and wrote the complete paper. Ni Sheng provided supervision and approved the final version.

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Correspondence to Yuanyuan Wan.

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Highlights

• The role of green investment on carbon dioxide emissions and clean energy consumption was evaluated.

• Nonlinear relationships between economic growth and clean energy consumption were analyzed.

• The specific forms and turning points of economic growth on clean energy and CO2 emissions.

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Wan, Y., Sheng, N. Clarifying the relationship among green investment, clean energy consumption, carbon emissions, and economic growth: a provincial panel analysis of China. Environ Sci Pollut Res 29, 9038–9052 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-021-16170-w

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