Will the Low-carbon City Pilot Policy Achieve Regional Emission Reduction?

Abstract

In order to address climate change and promote green and low-carbon development, the Chinese government has implemented a pilot policy for low-carbon cities since 2010 and has continuously expanded the scope of the pilots. Taking the second batch of low-carbon pilot policies as an example, this paper uses difference in difference method to study the impact of low-carbon pilot policies on reducing urban carbon emission intensity based on the panel data of prefecture level cities from 2006 to 2019. It is found that the construction of low-carbon cities has a positive effect on reducing carbon emissions,and this conclusion is still valid under the robustness test. Based on this conclusion,this paper argues that China should further promote low-carbon pilot policies and actively explore the development model of low-carbon cities, especially to improve the livable and green urban environment.