Abstract
Technical change essentially drives regional social and economic development, and how technical change influences the regional sustainable development of the ecological environment is also of concern. However, technical change is not always neutral, so how does directed technical change affect urban carbon intensity? Is there a spatial spillover effect between these two? In order to answer these above questions, this article first explores the relationship between directed technical change and carbon intensity through the spatial Durbin model; then, it separately analyses whether the relationship between the two in low-carbon and non-low-carbon cities will differ; finally, we performed a robustness test by replacing weights, replacing the explained variable with a lag of one period, and replacing the explained variable. The conclusions are as follows: (1) There is a positive spatial correlation between the carbon intensity of Chinese cities—that is, there is a positive interaction between the carbon intensity of local cities and of neighboring cities. For every 1% change in the carbon intensity of neighboring cities, the carbon intensity of local cities changes by 0.1027% in the same direction. (2) The directed technical change has a significant inhibitory effect on urban carbon intensity, whether in local cities or neighboring cities. However, it is worth mentioning that the direct negative effect is greater in local cities than in neighboring cities. (3) The directed technical change in low-carbon cities has a stronger inhibitory effect on carbon intensity, with a direct effect coefficient of −0.5346 and an indirect effect coefficient of −0.2616. Due to less green policy support in non-low-carbon cities, the inhibitory effect of directed technical change on carbon intensity is weakened; even if the direct effects and indirect effects are superimposed, it is only −0.0510 rather than −0.7962 for low-carbon cities.
Highlights
Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutralClimate change caused by the greenhouse effect is one of the greatest threats to human life on a global scale, because it endangers the ecological security of the Earth and, the survival and development of human beings [1]
The direct and indirect effects of average night light data, foreign investment level, the proportion of tertiary industries, and road passenger traffic are all in the same direction among local cities and neighboring cities; among them, night light data and road passenger traffic promote the carbon intensity of local cities and neighboring cities, meaning that the economic vitality of the region can drive the economic development of neighboring regions, which will inevitably use and consume more energy and increase the overall carbon intensity level
Because more advanced technology is often greener and more environmentally friendly, increasing the level of foreign investment can reduce the carbon intensity of local and neighboring cities; a higher proportion of tertiary industry is accompanied by an increase in consumption, it is lower than the volume of resources consumed by the primary and secondary industries, so the overall increase in carbon emissions is significantly suppressed
Summary
Climate change caused by the greenhouse effect is one of the greatest threats to human life on a global scale, because it endangers the ecological security of the Earth and, the survival and development of human beings [1]. The US, Japan, and the European Union have all invested heavily into scientific research and the development of energy-saving and emissions-reducing technologies, and they have achieved better environmental performance [9] This confirms that technical change is an important driving force for regional energy conservation and global emissions reduction. As China is in a period of tightening resource and environmental constraints, promoting high-quality economic development, improving the environmental governance system, and committing to achieving green development, it is necessary to explore the impact of directed technical change on China’s total carbon emissions, as well as how to strengthen or mitigate said impact. Such exploration is conducive to an in-depth understanding of how to promote the transformation of China’s economic development to a green, low-carbon, and environmentally friendly mode
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