Green Finance and Industrial Low-Carbon Transition: A Case Study on Green Economy Policy in Kazakhstan

Abstract

The transition to a low-carbon (LC) economy is a major challenge for governments around the world. This article aims to investigate the most effective market and governmental initiatives to facilitate the industrial sector’s shift to a less carbon-intensive economy. According to our analysis, the Green Economy Policy (GEP) has the potential to reduce industry carbon emissions (CEs) in some areas by promoting energy transition, rather than focusing on developing short-term reduction methods. We found that the GEP decreased pilot sites’ industrial carbon intensity (CI) by an average of 7.88%, and this reduction persisted after many robustness checks. The favorable impact of the GEP differs based on population size (large and small populations) and geographic location (eastern, central, western, northern, and southern regions). Also, it is critical to emphasize how crucial green financing (GF) is to ease the energy transition.