ABSTRACT Understanding the drivers of carbon emissions from the water–food–energy (WFE) system during urbanization is essential for achieving China’s carbon peak and neutrality goals; yet, systematic quantification in this domain remains limited. This study develops a consumption-based accounting framework to estimate WFE carbon emissions for 41 cities in China’s Yangtze River Delta (YRD) from 2000 to 2023. By integrating restricted cubic splines, boosted regression trees, and piecewise structural equation modeling, we systematically uncover the nonlinear impacts and multi-path transmission mechanisms of comprehensive urbanization on WFE emissions. The key findings are as follows: (1) WFE carbon emissions (WFEC) in the YRD exhibit a fluctuating pattern with an overall upward tendency since 2000, mainly driven by industrial and residential water use. (2) A significant nonlinear relationship exists between the composite urbanization index (UI) and both WFEC and WFE carbon intensity (WFECI), with a turning point at approximately UI = 0.2. (3) The marginal effects of population, spatial, and social urbanization on WFEC intensify over time, while that of ecological urbanization weakens; effects on WFECI are predominantly negative. (4) Population, economic, and spatial urbanization exert significant direct effects on emissions, alongside indirect effects mediated by resource use intensity and behavioral consumption structure, marking them as the most pivotal and complex dimensions. The present study provides new evidence on consumption-driven WFE emissions and offers theoretical and policy insights for low-carbon transitions in resource-intensive regions.

Synergistic effects of green finance and environmental taxation on consumption-based carbon emissions in developed economies

Abstract Many affluent democracies have pledged to achieve ‘net zero’ greenhouse gas emissions by mid-century. Achieving these targets would denote important national contributions to the international goal of keeping global warming ‘well below’ 2°C as agreed in the 2015 Paris agreement. Yet pursuing the necessary long-term decarbonisation policies influencing individuals’ everyday lives will require a considerable and enduring level of political leadership. But what enables or constrains politicians to perform such leadership? To date, little is known about the factors influencing politicians’ willingness to advocate for decarbonisation measures in the short-term for the long-term gain of climate change mitigation. This study draws on rare data of consumers’ carbon footprints, parliamentary speechmaking, and qualitative elite interviews in a mixed-methods research design to study how the intensity of constituents’ consumption-based carbon emissions influences the decarbonisation-focused behaviour of members of parliament (MPs) in the UK. Our quantitative findings reveal that MPs pay considerably less attention to decarbonisation issues when they represent carbon-intense constituencies. Moreover, this effect is particularly pronounced for Conservative MPs and amplified in marginal seats. The qualitative interview evidence helps to contextualise these quantitative findings, suggesting that MPs consider the decarbonisation of lifestyles a crucial political challenge and that their electoral considerations and party-political contexts play an important role in how they handle this challenge. Overall, our study draws a sobering picture of politicians’ willingness to sacrifice short-term electoral gains for the long-term prospect of net zero, especially for those MPs representing constituencies that could make high-impact contributions to nationwide emission cuts.

In the context of China’s dual-carbon agenda and the Digital China initiative, elucidating the role of digital literacy in shaping consumption-based household carbon emissions (HCE) is essential for advancing low-carbon urban living and supporting a broader green transition. Existing research has rarely examined, at the individual level, how digital capability shapes household consumption decisions and the structure of carbon emissions. Accordingly, this study draws on matched household-individual microdata from the China Family Panel Studies (CFPS). We employ a two-way fixed effects model, kernel density analysis, and qualitative comparative analysis. We test the nonlinear effect of digital literacy on household consumption-related carbon emissions and examine its heterogeneity. We also examined the mediating role of perceived environmental pressure, social trust and income level. The research results show that: (1) The net impact of digital literacy on carbon emissions related to household consumption shows an inverted U-shaped curve, rising first and then falling. When digital literacy is low, it mainly increases emissions by expanding consumption channels, reducing transaction costs and improving convenience. Once digital literacy exceeds a certain threshold, the mechanism will gradually turn to optimize the consumption structure, so as to support the low-carbon transformation of individuals. (2) The impact of digital literacy on HCE is structurally different in different types of consumption. In terms of transportation and communication expenditure, the emission reduction effect is the most significant, and with the improvement in digital literacy, this effect will become more and more obvious. For housing-related consumption, the turning point appeared the earliest. With the improvement in digital literacy, its effect will enter the emission reduction stage faster. (3) Digital literacy can reduce carbon emissions related to household consumption by enhancing residents’ perception of environmental pressure and strengthening social trust. However, it may also increase emissions by increasing residents’ incomes, because it will expand the scale of consumption, which will lead to an increase in carbon emissions related to household consumption. (4) The heterogeneity analysis shows that as digital literacy improves, carbon emissions increase more strongly among rural residents, people with low human capital, low-income households, and women. However, the turning-point threshold for emission reduction is relatively lower for women and rural residents. (5) Low-carbon transitions in household consumption are shaped by dynamic interactions among multiple factors, and multiple pathways can coexist. Digital literacy can work with environmental responsibility to endogenously promote low-carbon consumption behavior. It can also, under well-developed infrastructure, empower households and amplify the emission-reduction effects of technology.

Purpose This study examined the combined impact of green finance, innovation, taxes and environmental policy stringency on environmental and ecological dynamics for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries using data from 1994 to 2020. Design/methodology/approach The study employed advanced econometric techniques, including cross-sectionally augmented Dickey-Fuller, cross-sectionally augmented Im, Pesaran and Shin, Westerlund (2007) cointegration, Methods of Moment Quantile Regression and Dumitrescu and Hurlin (2012) panel causality test. Findings The empirical evidence established a heterogeneous impact of green finance across quantiles, with a negative impact on biodiversity loss and a positive impact on consumption-based carbon emissions and biocapacity. Moreover, green taxes and policy stringency decrease biodiversity loss and carbon emissions. A bidirectional causality is identified between CO2 and biodiversity. Practical implications The results advocate targeted financial policies, driven by technological innovation, to improve the capability of OECD countries in mitigating emissions and preserving biodiversity. Originality/value This unique study contributes to existing literature by considering the impact of green finance, innovation and policy tools on both environmental and ecological dynamics (both biodiversity loss and biocapacity) across different quantiles.

The nexus between digital finance and household consumption-based carbon emissions: Evidence from China

The intensification of carbon emissions poses a critical challenge to global ecological stability. This study employs panel quantile regression techniques alongside extensive preliminary diagnostics and robustness analyses to identify the principal determinants of consumption-based carbon emissions across 38 Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) members. Empirical findings reveal that demographic scale, economic output, international trade, and technological advancement significantly influence emission levels, lending support to both the trade-adjusted environmental Kuznets curve and the stochastic impacts by regression on population, affluence, and technology hypotheses. Furthermore, policy instruments such as environmental taxation and green finance play substantive roles in emission mitigation, with green finance demonstrating particular efficacy. This study makes a significant contribution to the current literature on ecological economics by shedding light on the pivotal factors of carbon emissions across various quantiles and cross-sections. JEL Classification: C31, H23, Q54, Q56

This article aims to investigate expert disagreement regarding sustainable consumption policies targeting household consumption in Finland, focusing on instruments designed to halve carbon footprints. Utilizing data from a Finnish policy Delphi study from 2022, the research gathered insights from 74 experts in sustainable consumption. We investigated 82 policy instruments aimed at reducing the carbon footprint of Finnish households that provoke disagreement among experts and explore the underlying reasons for such dissensus. Our findings indicate disagreement among experts concerning specific policy instruments. Despite deliberation, dissensus persists, influenced by various research paradigms and the implicit normativity of the topic of the Delphi. The analysis reveals that factors influencing expert opinion include varying interpretations of scientific evidence, different disciplinary perspectives, and the perceived importance of proposed policies. This research contributes to policy guidance of household consumption by addressing the difficulty of applying social science research in policymaking for sustainable consumption patterns. We advocate for co-produced evidence and collective reasoning in policymaking that emphasizes the need for context-sensitive approaches to societal change. By identifying areas of expert dissensus, the study proposes new pathways toward achieving consensus on effective policies to curb household consumption-based carbon emissions, thereby informing future efforts to create cohesive and ambitious strategies for reaching emissions reductions in consumption.

This study examines the symmetric and asymmetric impacts of international trade on consumption-based carbon emissions (CBEs) in the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the United States of America (USA) from 1990 to 2018. The analysis uses autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) and non-linear ARDL (NARDL) methodologies to capture short- and long-run trade emissions dynamics, with economic growth, oil prices, financial development and industry value addition as control variables. The findings reveal that exports reduce CBEs, while imports increase them, across both economies in the long and short run. The asymmetric analysis highlights that a fall in exports increases CBEs in the USA but reduces them in the PRC due to differences in supply chain flexibility. The PRC demonstrates larger coefficients for trade variables, reflecting its reliance on energy-intensive imports and rapid trade growth. The error correction term shows that the PRC takes 2.64 times longer than the USA to return to equilibrium after short-run shocks, reflecting systemic rigidity. These findings challenge the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) hypothesis, showing that economic growth intensifies CBEs. Robustness checks confirm the results, highlighting the need for tailored policies, including carbon border adjustments, renewable energy integration and CBE-based accounting frameworks.

The choice of carbon inequality metrics can significantly influence demand-side mitigation policies and their equity outcomes. We propose integrated carbon inequality metrics, including juxtaposing carbon inequality with economic inequality, disparity ratios across income and age groups, and structural income–urbanization inequality patterns. We then apply these new metrics and use the household expenditure survey data from China Family Panel Studies as a case study to examine household consumption-based carbon emissions in China. We assess the extent to which household consumption patterns, household expenditure, age, and urbanization contribute to the gap in per-capita household carbon footprints (CF) across income groups. We find that in relative terms, the top 20% income group accounts for 38% of total emissions, whereas the bottom 20% emit about 8% in China. Per-capita CFs vary slightly widely in their inequality than expenditure. The CF disparity ratios of all eight consumption categories across provinces concentrate around 4.5. CF disparity ratios of households with elderly members range from 1 to 3 and decrease with increasing household size. Rural CF-Gini exhibit a slightly wider range (0.15 to 0.52) than urban CF-Gini (0.16 to 0.42). Per capita CF of urban inhabitants was substantially larger than that of the rural ones, with 8.83 tCO2 per capita in urban regions vs. 2.68 tCO2 in rural regions. This study provides a nuanced understanding of within-country disparities to inform equitable demand-side mitigation solutions.

Does green innovation mitigate consumption-based carbon emissions? The role of nuclear energy consumption and energy productivity in G-7 nations

The determinants of production-based carbon emission (PCE) have been extensively examined in the literature. However, PCE only accounts for emissions generated within the territory of a country and does not capture emissions embedded in imported goods. The rapid growth in Consumption-based Carbon Emissions (CCE) in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), driven by increasing imports and economic activities, highlights the need for a comprehensive understanding of these emissions. This motivates us to examine the impact of Renewable Energy Consumption (REC) on CCE in SSA. We employed a two-step system Generalized Method of Moments (GMM) methodology, utilizing data from 1995 to 2020. The results show a negative effect of REC on CCE, suggesting that increases in renewable energy consumption tend to reduce CCE. In contrast, the positive impact of real GDP and population indicates that economic growth and population expansion tend to bolster carbon emissions. These findings underscore the importance of implementing policies harmonizing economic growth with sustainable energy strategies. They provide valuable insights for informed environmental and economic planning decisions.

Quest for environmental management and sustainability: Evaluating the drivers of territorial and consumption-based carbon emissions in G-20 economies.

The dynamic influence of green technology and environmental taxes on consumption-based carbon emissions in Brazil

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This paper examines the longer-term and causal impact of public-private partnership (PPP) investment in energy and technological innovation on consumption-based carbon emissions in Pakistan during the period from 1990 to 2023. This analysis includes important covariates, such as international trade (exports and imports), economic growth (GDP), and renewable energy consumption, to explore the factors influencing Pakistan's carbon emissions. The theoretical lens for the study is based on the Environmental Kuznets Curve (EKC) theory, which posits that economic growth can initially lead to rising carbon emissions, but stronger long-term technological development and a transition towards renewable energy would turn the tide against environmental degradation. Moreover, Transition Theory emphasizes the importance of PPPs and technological innovation in transitioning Pakistan's energy system from fossil fuels to sustainable energy solutions. By employing advanced estimation techniques, including the Maki cointegration test (1996) that accounts for multiple structural breaks, the research shows that the variables in question are bound in a long-run equilibrium relationship. An export and consumption of renewable energy indicate significantly reduced consumption-based carbon emissions, while more imports, GDP, and (PPP) investment in non- renewable energy positively relates to increased emissions according to results for 182 countries. Overall, the study presents solid empirical proof that trade, technological changes, and a move toward renewable energy can help lower carbon emissions in Pakistan. The authors further recommend the establishment of policies to promote renewable energy investments via PPPs, foster technological progress in low-carbon technologies, implement carbon pricing instruments, such as taxes on energy-intensive goods, and harmonize trade policies to promote low-carbon exports"

This study first time explores the impact of total factor productivity, renewable energy, exports, imports, and income on carbon emissions in the Gas Exporting Countries Forum (GECF) nations. To ensure that the results are sound and policy insights are well-grounded, three main issues of panel data – cross-sectional dependency, heterogeneity, and nonstationarity – are addressed using cutting-edge methods. Moreover, a theoretically justified framework is employed, offering advantages such as considering a broad set of factors, which are actionable from a climate policy perspective, with dual benefits of emissions reduction and supporting clean growth. We find that total factor productivity, renewable energy, and exports reduce carbon emissions, while income and imports have an increasing effect. Policymakers in GECF countries may consider implementing measures to support technological advancements, efficiency improvements, increased use of renewable energy, expanded exports, and lowered imports. They can reduce emissions while promoting sustainable economic growth.

Purpose The existing literature on the effects of capital mobility and financial development on sustainable trade development in sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries has been centered on production-based carbon emissions without investigating consumption-based or trade-adjusted carbon emissions. The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of capital mobility and financial development on sustainable trade development, specifically trade-adjusted carbon emissions in SSA economies. Design/methodology/approach The study employed the novel GMM-PVAR estimator and the Drisc-Kraay fixed effect panel corrected standard error (PCSE) dynamic ordinary least squares (DOLS) and the fully modified least squares (FMOLS) approaches on panel data from 46 sub-Saharan African (SSA) countries over the period 1992–2021. Findings The study established that capital mobility has a significant positive effect on sustainable trade development in SSA in the long run. Further, the empirical results reveal that the link between financial development and sustainable trade development is significantly positive in the long run. Moreover, the results suggest that capital mobility and financial development have predictive power on sustainable trade development. Practical implications The findings of the study imply that policymakers ought to pay equal attention to capital mobility and financial development when developing sustainable trade development policies. Originality/value The existing literature has been centered on production-based carbon emissions, without specifically considering sustainable trade development (consumption-based carbon emissions). To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study to examine the effect of capital mobility and financial development on sustainable trade development in SSA countries context.

The purpose of this study is to examine the role of structural transformation in the energy sector to accelerate the decarbonization process in the world’s top five green leaders, Germany, Canada, Sweden, Denmark, and Poland. To test this empirically, we collected annual data from a panel of the top five green leaders from 2000–2023. A key contribution of our study lies in assessing multiple critical metrics, including CO2 emissions, carbon intensity, carbon intensity of electricity, production-based carbon emissions, and consumption-based carbon emissions, to capture holistic progress towards carbon neutrality. We applied the augmented mean group (AMG) model to estimate the long-term results. The Dumitrescu–Hurlin test is used to test the causal relationship among the modeled variables. The findings of the AMG model reveal that renewable energy production and consumption significantly reduce CO2 emissions, production-based CO2 emissions, consumption-based CO2 emissions, carbon intensity, and the carbon intensity of electricity. Conversely, fossil-fuel-derived energy exacerbates these metrics. However, the impact of these energy sources varies by country in terms of their magnitude. The outcomes of the Dumitrescu–Hurlin test indicate that a bidirectional causality exists between renewable energy production and CO2 emissions and between renewable energy consumption and carbon intensity. However, a unidirectional causality exists between fossil fuel consumption and CO2 emissions and between renewable energy consumption and the carbon intensity of electricity. Our results indicate the detrimental impacts of continued fossil fuel use and conclude that a structural transformation in the energy sector is critical to decarbonization. Based on our results, we suggest that policy efforts should prioritize structural reforms in the energy sector by emphasizing a shift towards renewable energy sources. Such reforms are essential for achieving net-zero carbon emissions and mitigating broader environmental degradation.

Research on the correlation network of carbon emissions and economic between Chinese urban agglomerations