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In the process of pursuing a Chinese path to modernization that advocates the promotion of harmony between humanity and nature, dealing with the synergy of multi-target environmental regulation policies is an important task towards the modernization of China's governance system and capacity. In this context, can synergistic environmental policies more effectively promote industrial transformation and upgrading when facing the two strategic tasks of building a beautiful China and achieving the goals of reaching peak carbon emissions and carbon neutrality? Existing research has no answer to this question. This study used the policy of establishing ' acid rain and SO2 pollution control zones' and the low-carbon city pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment of environmental policy synergy and combined the influences of the effective government and the efficient market within a unified analytical framework. Using the panel data of 282 prefecture level cities and above in China from 2003 to 2020, this study used the difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of the constraints of the dual environmental objectives, i.e., pollution control and carbon reduction, on the transformation and upgrading of regional industries. The results showed that: (J) Comparing with a single environmental regulation, the synergistic effects of the pollution control and carbon reduction policies were better at promoting regional industrial transformation and upgrading, and the conclusion consistently held through a series of robustness tests. © The mechanism analysis showed that under the dual environmental objectives, the effective government could stimulate regional industrial transformation and upgrading via the regulatory effect of fiscal expenditure. Simultaneously, the efficient market could motivate micro-enterprises to generate relocation and innovative compensatory effects to realize the transformation and upgrading of regional industries. Further research revealed distinct heterogeneity in the transformation and upgrading of regional industries under the dual environmental objectives. The zones with the two pilot policies had a more pronounced impact on the industrial transformation and upgrading of eastern regions, non-traditional industrial bases, regions with heightened environmental consciousness, and areas with superior environmental infrastructure. This study suggests that: ( Local governments should coordinate the overall situation and avoid the blind development of energy-intensive and highly polluting projects. © They should maximize the financial sector's role as a mainstay, attracting and directing more social capital towards green and low-carbon industries. © They should divide and implement national targets for reducing pollution and carbon emissions based on local conditions, and explore experiences and models that can be popularized and replicated. ® They should increase innovation incentives to encourage the synergy of low-carbon technology and low-pollution emission control technology. ® They should also deploy tailored policies that cater to specific regional conditions, foster the profound integration of regional resources, and maximize the potential advantages of each region's synergistic development in pollution control and carbon reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Smart cities are a product of the integration of the new urbanization process and information technology development in China, while inclusive green growth is an important strategic concept for economic development transformation. Whether the smart city pilot policy can promote inclusive green growth in China still needs to be tested. Based on panel data from 210 prefecture level and above cities from 2009 to 2020, this study used the multi-period difference-in-differences method to learn the impact of the smart city pilot policy on inclusive green growth in China, followed by a series of robustness tests. In addition, the sub-system path, location heterogeneity, and spatial spillover effects of policy effects were also examined. The results showed that: (J) The construction of smart cities would have a significant positive impact on inclusive green growth, and the policy effects would gradually increase over time. The construction of smart cities had a significant promoting effect on both economic growth and green growth, but the impact on inclusive growth was not significant. © There was significant regional heterogeneity in the impact of smart city construction on inclusive green growth. There was a significant positive impact in the eastern and western regions, a significant negative impact in the northeast region, and an insignificant impact in the central region. © The policy effects of smart city construction had significant spatial spillover characteristics. Smart city construction could significantly promote economic growth and green growth in adjacent non-pilot areas but could only significantly promote economic growth in adjacent pilot areas. Therefore, in the critical period of China's economic transformation and upgrading, in order to enhance the promotion of the pilot policy on inclusive green growth, on the one hand, the construction of smart cities should focus on promoting inclusive growth and formulating reasonable pilot goals according to local conditions based on the resource endowment of each region. On the other hand, it is necessary to promote the exchange of piloting experience and innovation resources among regions and arrange the investment level of innovation resources reasonably to avoid the occurrence of ' depression effect' and ' siphon effect.' [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recycling carbon tax revenue is a significant part of the design of a nation's carbon tax system. The impact of different recycling principles on the socio-economy and carbon emission reduction varies greatly. Under the background of China's goal of reaching peak carbon emissions, this paper designed three carbon tax recycling principles based on the goal of Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs), including recycling principles based on output ratio, export ratio, and carbon intensity. A recursively dynamic CGE model was developed in this study to evaluate the economic effects of these three carbon tax recycling principles based on tax neutrality under China's goal of reaching peak carbon emissions. Carbon tax recycling measures could mitigate the economic losses caused by carbon tax, and the results could be greatly affected according to different recycling principles. The results showed that: 1 The recycling principle based on output ratio could reduce economic losses and improve households' social welfare. 2 China's carbon intensity in 2030 could be reduced by more than 65% compared with that in 2005, and the proportion of non-fossil energy in primary energy consumption could reach 25% using the recycling principle based on carbon intensity, but the economic loss mitigation effect of the recycling measures based on this principle was small. 3 Adopting the recycling principle based on export ratio would narrow the competitive gap between China and foreign countries, and the exports of high-carbon-intensity goods would not increase under this principle. 4 According to principles based on output ratio and export ratio, the NDC goal of non-fossil energy accounting for about 25% of primary energy consumption by 2030 could not be achieved, and only the NDC goal of reducing carbon emissions per unit of GDP by more than 65% compared with that of 2005 could be achieved. In brief, as an essential policy tool to achieve China's goal of reaching peak carbon emissions, the carbon tax should be implemented as soon as possible. At the same time, according to China's national conditions, a targeted choice of carbon tax recycling principle is needed. The role of the carbon tax in the process of achieving the goal of Nationally Determined Contributions should be fully utilized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accelerating the low-carbon transformation of the energy consumption structure is an important way to realize Chinese-style green modernization and development. Given the specificity of China's resource endowment and regional differences in energy distribution, the degree of reliance on coal varies greatly from region to region. Therefore, the differential impact of this dependence on the low-carbon transformation of the energy structure deserves high attention. To systematically assess the impact of environmental target constraints on the low-carbon transformation of the energy consumption structure in coal resource-dependent regions, this study was conducted on the basis of a theoretical analysis of the intrinsic influence of environmental target constraints on the regional energy consumption structure as well as the regulating mechanisms played by economic growth pressures and green finance. Taking the environmental target constraint system with Chinese characteristics as a quasi-natural experiment and the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2020 as a sample, the study used a generalized difference-in-differences model to empirically test the impact of environmental target constraints on the low-carbon transition of the regional energy consumption structure, and discussed the moderating roles of the pressure of economic growth and green finance on this impact. The results showed that: (J) After the implementation of the environmental target constraint system, the energy consumption structure of coal resource-dependent regions deteriorated significantly compared with that of non-coal resource-dependent regions, which supported the existence of the ' green paradox' phenomenon. This conclusion remained robust after considering the impact of related policies and the use of synthetic instrumental variables to deal with the endogeneity problem. © The test of the impact mechanisms showed that in coal resource-dependent areas, local governments were more motivated to promote the low-carbon transformation of the energy consumption structure under the pressure of the ' dual targets' of environmental target constraints and the economic growth target. Affected by the level of financial regulation and the ' green-washing' behavior of enterprises, green finance exacerbated the dilemmas of energy transformation in coal resource-dependent areas. © An expansive analysis based on the regional market environment showed that the inhibitory effect of environmental target constraints on the low-carbon transition of the energy consumption structure was more prominent in regions with low marketization levels than in those with high marketization levels. The study suggests attaching great importance to the structural adjustment of energy consumption in coal resource-dependent regions and promoting the low-carbon transformation of the energy structure in an orderly manner according to local conditions. Meanwhile, the study also highlights the importance of taking ' green' as a defining feature of local economic growth and leading local economic growth with the green development concept. In addition, a scientific and efficient green financial regulatory system should be built to ensure that green financial funds are truly used for green and low-carbon projects. It is also necessary to improve the market-based environmental regulatory mechanism to create a favorable business environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New pollutants have three major characteristics: 'high biotoxicity,' ' environmental persistence,' and ' bioaccumulation,' and they tend to cause ' cumulative environmental health risks,' ' diffuse ecological environmental risks,' and ' sudden environmental and social risks.' In the face of these compounded risks and challenges, traditional environmental regulation is confronted with multiple dilemmas: First, the current environmental regulatory system may fail to address the proactive preventive demands of new pollutants on environmental health risks. Second, conventional environmental regulatory frameworks struggle to cope with the collaborative governance requirements of new pollutant-induced environmental risks. Third, the traditional environmental regulatory model tends to be inadequate in meeting the urgent response and control demands of new pollutant-induced social risks. To cope with the challenge of these overlapping risks, this study proposes the following environmental management optimization strategies that meet the requirements of new pollutant control in response to the difficulties in traditional ecological environmental management: updating the existing ecological environmental management system to address the health risks posed by new pollutants, filling the gaps in ecological environmental management by focusing on the ecological environmental risks of new pollutants, and resolving the failure of ecological environmental management in response to the social risks posed by new pollutants. In the face of the risks posed by new pollutant control, the tasks of ecological environmental management transformation should include the following three aspects: First, establishing the goal of ' active prevention ' of risks to update the ecological environmental management system; second, strengthening the ecological environmental management chain with a comprehensive and dynamic risk coordination and control approach; and third, improving the ecological environmental management model by constructing an elastic governance mechanism for environmental and social risks. According to the above ideas, the optimization of environmental management for new pollutant risk control should also involve the need to explore institutional improvements in terms of legislative goals, regulatory scope, and normative systems. The specific regulatory content should include establishing the principle of ' active prevention' of risks in general environmental laws and its applicable rules, adopting a typology of rules for comprehensive risk coordination and control of new pollutant risks based on the concept of ' lifecycle governance,' and constructing an elastic governance system for environmental and social risks posed by new pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]