The Impact of Carbon-Emission Trading Scheme Policies on Air Quality in Chinese Cities

Youtian Fan, Zhiying Chen and Taiyi He ()
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Youtian Fan: The School of Economics, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Chongqing 401120, China
Zhiying Chen: The School of Economics, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Chongqing 401120, China
Taiyi He: Research Institute of Social Development, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu 610074, China

Sustainability, 2024, vol. 16, issue 22, 1-16

Abstract: Air quality issues have a significant impact on human health and are an important issue affecting sustainable development. With the implementation of China’s carbon-emission trading scheme, carbon emissions have been effectively reduced, which has a potential impact on air quality. This article uses a time-point difference-in-differences model to analyze the impact of the implementation of a carbon-emission trading scheme on the air quality in 284 cities in China from 2008 to 2021. During the inspection, the impact of policies on overall air quality and on various types of air pollutants was discussed separately. The research results show that the implementation of the carbon-emission trading scheme helps improve urban air quality issues, reduce the concentration of air pollutants such as PM 2.5 and SO 2 , and improve the urban environment; with controlled variables, it has reduced PM 2.5 by 2.548 units, SO 2 by 0.180 units, NO x by 0.295 units, and has promoted the sustainable development of cities. In addition, the policy mainly has a positive impact on air quality by promoting green technology innovation and industrial upgrading, further demonstrating the spillover effect of the policy. There is also some regional heterogeneity in the policies, especially in the central and western regions, where the reduction effect of SO 2 and nitrogen oxides is not significant.

Keywords: carbon-emission trading scheme; air quality; sustainable development; green technology innovation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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