A study on the driving factors and spatial spillover of carbon emission intensity in the yangtze river economic belt under double control action

Abstract

It is greatly important to promote low-carbon green transformations in China, for implementing the emission reduction commitments and global climate governance. However, understanding the spatial spillover effects of carbon emissions will help the government achieve this goal. This paper selects the carbon-emission intensity panel data of 11 provinces in the Yangtze River Economic Belt from 2004 to 2016. Then, this paper uses the Global Moran’s I to explore the spatial distribution characteristics and spatial correlation of carbon emission intensity. Furthermore, this paper constructs a spatial econometric model to empirically test the driving path and spillover effects of relevant factors. The results show that there is a significant positive correlation with the provincial carbon intensity in the Yangtze River Economic Belt, but this trend is weakening. The provinces of Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shanghai are High–High agglomerations, while the provinces of Yunnan and Guizhou are Low–Low agglomerations. Economic development, technological innovation, and foreign direct investion (FDI) have positive effects on the reduction of carbon emissions, while industrialization has a negative effect on it. There is also a significant positive spatial spillover effect of the industrialization level and technological innovation level. The spatial spillover effects of FDI and economic development on carbon emission intensity fail to pass a significance test. Therefore, it is necessary to promote cross-regional low-carbon development, accelerate the R&D of energy-saving and emission-reduction technologies, actively enhance the transformation and upgrade industrial structures, and optimize the opening up of the region and the patterns of industrial transfer.