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Does China’s low-carbon action reduce pollution emissions? A quasi-natural experiment based on the low-carbon city construction

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Abstract

To achieve the goal of “carbon peak and carbon neutrality”, it is crucial for China to effectively control environmental pollution in low-carbon action (LCA). Based on the evidence from 283 cities in China from 2007 to 2019, the difference-in-differences (DID) method is applied to explore the impact of LCA on pollutant emissions represented by the pilot of low-carbon city construction (LCCC) in China. The main findings are as follows. First of all, the LCCC suppresses pollution emissions, and the basic conclusions are still stable after endogenous treatment and robustness testing. Secondly, the mechanism analysis reveals that the main path of LCCC affecting pollution reduction comes from the progress of green technology and the upgrading of industrial structure. Finally, the heterogeneity analysis shows that the pollution reduction effect of the LCCC is better in the eastern region and cities with higher level of green economy development. Based on the policy standpoint of environmental protection, the LCCC has opened up a reasonable exploration path for China and other countries in the world to carry out effective pollution reduction.

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Data availability

The data that support the findings of this study are available from www.cnki.net, but restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under license for the current study, and so are not publicly available. Data are, however, available from the authors upon reasonable request and permission of www.cnki.net.

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Funding

This paper is supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (nos. 20BJL074).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Economics, Qingdao University, Qingdao, 266071, China

    Yuqiang Gao, Yuchen Lu & Chi-Wei Su

  2. School of Finance, Dongbei University of Finance and Economics, Dalian, 116025, China

    Yu Zhang

Authors
  1. Yuqiang Gao
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  2. Yuchen Lu
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  3. Chi-Wei Su
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  4. Yu Zhang
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Contributions

All authors contributed to the study conception and design. Material preparation, data collection, and analysis were performed by Gao Yuqiang, Lu Yuchen, Su Chi-wei, and Zhang Yu. The first draft of the manuscript was written by Gao Yuqiang and Lu Yuchen. All authors commented on previous versions of the manuscript. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yuchen Lu.

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Ethics approval and consent to participate

This study involves the macro-data of human economy and society. All the data are from the official statistical yearbook. The data collection process is in line with the ethical and moral standards. The research method of this study is DID econometric method, and there is no need for ethical approval and animal experiment content. The author guarantees that the process, content, and conclusion of this study do not violate the theory and moral principles.

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We affirm that all authors have agreed on submission of the paper to ESPR and are fully aware of ethical responsibilities.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Gao, Y., Lu, Y., Su, CW. et al. Does China’s low-carbon action reduce pollution emissions? A quasi-natural experiment based on the low-carbon city construction. Environ Sci Pollut Res 30, 27013–27029 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-022-24135-w

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