Public environmental concern, government environmental regulation and urban carbon emission reduction—Analyzing the regulating role of green finance and industrial agglomeration

Abstract

In the multifaceted realm of environmental governance, emphasizing public environmental participation as an informal regulatory mechanism, alongside the influence of formal governmental environmental regulation on regional carbon emissions, contributes to providing empirical evidence and policy insights for China's “dual‑carbon target” action plan. Using data from 282 prefecture-level cities in China from 2011 to 2020, this research develops an analytical framework for urban carbon emissions encompassing public environmental concern, environmental regulation, green finance, and industrial agglomeration. And through an amalgamation of theoretical insights and empirical validation, the study elucidates the mechanisms by which public environmental concern impact urban carbon emissions. It further delves into the mediating role of environmental regulation and the moderating effects of green finance and industrial agglomeration. It reveals that: (1) Public environmental concern significantly reduces urban carbon emissions, particularly in northern cities, non-environmental protection key cities, and resource regeneration cities. And this suppressive influence is markedly more potent via mobile platforms compared to PC channels; (2) Environmental regulation serves as a partially mediating role between public environmental concern and urban carbon emissions, suggesting that public environmental concern reduces emissions by amplifying governmental environmental oversight; (3) Both green finance and industrial agglomeration play a positive moderating role on the effect of public environmental concern in reducing urban carbon emissions.