Measuring the Synergistic Effect of Pollution and Carbon Reduction in China’s Industrial Sector

Abstract

The industrial sector is a major source of CO2 and atmospheric pollutants in China, and it is important to promote industrial pollution reduction and carbon reduction to improve the quality of China’s atmospheric environment and meet CO2 peak targets. In this paper, based on 2005 to 2021’s panel data from the industrial sector, we construct a computational model of the synergistic effect of pollution reduction and carbon reduction, quantitatively evaluate the synergistic effect of industrial CO2 emissions and air pollutants, and explore its evolutionary mechanism. The results showed that between 2005 and 2021, there was a clear synergistic effect between CO2 and air pollutants in China’s industrial sector, and the synergistic effect is increasing. For different pollutants, CO2 and SO2 have the strongest synergies, and CO2 and particulate matter have relatively weak synergies. For different energy types, the synergies between coal-related carbon emissions and air pollutants gradually increase, while gas-related carbon emissions and pollutants tend to decrease. From different industry types, the synergies between CO2 and air pollutants are weaker in high-polluting and high-emission industries than in other industries. These results have strong policy implications. First, the focus of synergistic measures should be on source reduction. The second is to make high-polluting and high-emission industries the focus of pollution reduction and carbon reduction. Third is harmonized management of air quality standards and carbon peaking should be promoted. The formulation of relevant policies from the above three aspects will help synergize pollution reduction and carbon reduction in the industrial sector.