Impact of Urbanization and Expansion of Forest Investment to Mitigate CO2 Emissions in China

Abstract

Abstract Forests are considered the key factor in controlling climate change and extreme climatic events due to their natural role in carbon abatement. However, twenty-first-century economic development is characterized by intensive resource exploitation, energy intensity, population, and urbanization, and hence it is affecting the natural forest habitat. The persistent deforestation and land degradation with limited sustainable forest management and its related services have long-term effects on environmental sustainability. Here, we investigate the impact of forest and its related services on the past decade of China’s carbon emissions while accounting for economic development, urbanization, and fossil fuels. We use several spatial techniques to ascertain the carbon abatement effect of the forestry-driven economy in halting the ecological degradation process. We report that carbon emissions decline across 30 provinces in China through the expansion of forest investment and forest management activities—instead of increasing the forest land without continuous proper management. Besides, the spatial analysis confirms that forest investments and proper management contribute to reducing carbon levels in neighboring provinces. From a policy point of view, it is more than an urgent need for the Chinese government to conduct forest management reforms, and such policies might be helpful to generate new sources of employment and pollution reduction in China.