Abstract
Facing the pressures of international carbon emission reduction, the transformation into a low-carbon economy has become a common issue of all countries. The core of developing a low-carbon economy is to increase carbon productivity, which can be measured as the economic benefits of unit carbon emissions. Therefore, using province-level panel data in China from 2009 to 2017, we analyze the carbon productivity level of each region, and empirically investigate the threshold effect of clean energy development on carbon productivity under different technological innovation levels. The results show that the carbon productivity is rising, and China’s economic development pattern has been shifting towards low-carbon and sustainable development. Furthermore, the driving force of clean energy development on carbon productivity is not monotonously increasing (decreasing) but is a “double threshold effect” of technological innovation capability. Finally, based on the research conclusions and realistic requirements of China’s low-carbon economic transformation, this paper proposes improving carbon productivity from the aspects of innovation capability improvement and institutional guarantee.
Highlights
Due to the continuous accumulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas, a series of environmental problems, such as abnormal precipitation distribution, rising sea levels, and frequent floods and droughts, have brought serious threats to the living environment of human society.According to the report of the Second UN Environment Conference, about 7 million people worldwide die from pollution every year, of which 4.3 million are related to air pollution
Due to the significant differences in technological innovation capabilities in different regions of China, we propose a hypothesis that there is a non-linear relationship between clean energy development and carbon productivity
Based on the panel threshold measurement method, this paper empirically investigates the complex mechanism between clean energy development and carbon productivity under the conditions of technological innovation capability in various regions
Summary
Due to the continuous accumulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas, a series of environmental problems, such as abnormal precipitation distribution, rising sea levels, and frequent floods and droughts, have brought serious threats to the living environment of human society.According to the report of the Second UN Environment Conference, about 7 million people worldwide die from pollution every year, of which 4.3 million are related to air pollution. Due to the continuous accumulation of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gas, a series of environmental problems, such as abnormal precipitation distribution, rising sea levels, and frequent floods and droughts, have brought serious threats to the living environment of human society. Carbon emission control is an urgent issue of concern to countries around the world [1,2]. As the country with the largest carbon emission, China’s efforts are of great significance to the world’s carbon emission reduction process. As the largest developing country in the world, China faces serious regional development imbalances, and some underdeveloped areas have not yet escaped poverty [3]. China must maintain economic growth while saving energy and reducing emissions [4]
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