Carbon emission reduction effect of the low-carbon pilot policy in China: Mechanism testing and path identification

Kaike Wang, Ru Yin, Hongshuai Dai and Shuhong Wang

Energy & Environment, 2025, vol. 36, issue 3, 1132-1154

Abstract: Since China's low-carbon pilot policy (LCPP) was launched in 2010, it has moved closer to accomplishing its carbon peak and neutrality targets. However, there is still scant literature on how to accurately consolidate the achievements of the policy in the pilot cities within which it was implemented. This research seeks to address the gap in the current literature by providing a theoretical basis for estimating the effect of LCPP on urban CO 2 using a multi-period difference-in-differences model. Panel data from 283 Chinese cities from 2006 to 2019 was utilized. We found that: (1) The LCPP evidently reduced the pilot cities’ CO 2 . (2) Mechanism verification shows that the LCPP curbs CO 2 emissions by improving urban technological innovation and reducing energy consumption. (3) Heterogeneity analysis displays that the CO 2 reduction effect is more pronounced in eastern areas, non-resource-based cities, and urban agglomerations. The LCPP has accelerated China's CO 2 reduction process and provided Chinese characteristics methods for limiting CO 2 emissions and reducing climate change. This is crucial for advancing urban low-carbon governance in the broader country.

Keywords: Urban low-carbon governance; low-carbon pilot policy; CO2 reduction; DID (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Downloads: (external link)
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0958305X231194540 (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:engenv:v:36:y:2025:i:3:p:1132-1154

DOI: 10.1177/0958305X231194540

Access Statistics for this article

More articles in Energy & Environment
Bibliographic data for series maintained by SAGE Publications ().