Co-benefits of Climate Change Mitigation and Pollution Reduction in China’s Urban Areas

Abstract

This chapter calculates an index of decoupling economic growth from CO2 and PM2.5 emissions, respectively, to examine the synergies of low-carbon development and green development in China’s 30 provincial cities and introduce a simultaneous equations model to quantify the interdependence of climate change mitigation and atmospheric pollutants control in both directions. The results for decoupling show that China’s provincial cities have transitioned over time to a stronger decoupling with respect to both CO2 and PM2.5 emissions, and synergies of low-carbon development and green development have mostly been observed in cities with a high level of economic development and large population size in the eastern part of China. The results of empirical analysis reveal that co-benefits of CO2 abatement and PM2.5 reduction vary within provincial cities and time periods in China.