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This paper aims to study the significance of China's Industrial Structure Rationalization (ISR) in reducing carbon emissions. To this end, this study uses panel data from 30 Chinese province from 2000 to 2019 to measure the Industrial Structure Rationalization of each province by calculating the Thiel index, base on which a nonlinear autoregressive lagged distribution (NARDL-PMG) model is established to explore the impacts of industrial structure rationalization on carbon emissions. The results show that: (1) There still exist significant regional differences between Eastern and Central-Western regions in industrial structure as illustrated by the ISR index. The industrial structure in Eastern region is more rational; (2) In the long run, the carbon emission in China will drop when the industrial structure becomes more rational; (3) However, in the short run, the carbon emission in China will increase when the industrial structure becomes more rational. Besides the findings above, the major difference between this paper and the extant researches is that this paper pays attention to the relationship between industrial structure rationalization and environmental quality by investigating the asymmetric influences of industrial structure rationalization index's positive and negative shocks on carbon emission, which lays solid foundations for government aiming to set more detailed policies. • Focus on the impact of rationalization of industrial structure on CO2 emissions. • Focused on the linear relationship between industrial structure and carbon emissions. • Attempts to analyze three regional pairs from the East, Central and West regions. • Provide a reference for developing countries to achieve sustainable development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite ecotourism certification's efficacy as a potential environmental management tool for promoting sustainable development, the applicability of Western ecotourism certification patterns in China and the environmental effects of China's ecotourism certification remain unclear. Based on China's Prototype-zone of National Ecotourism Attractions (PNEA) certification, this paper aims to provide empirical evidence on the causal relationship between ecotourism and low-carbon sustainable development in relation to public environmental concerns. The multiperiod Difference-in-Differences (DID) model is set up to examine the supervision of PNEA certification on regional carbon emissions based on the panel data from 285 Chinese prefecture-level cities in 2011–2017. Results demonstrate that PNEA approval can reduce regional carbon emissions by 1.1% per capita, and this effect would increase over time. Heterogeneity analysis shows that the carbon emission reduction impact is significantly higher on midwestern cities, resource-dependent cities, and cities with net population inflow. Furthermore, the determinants of public environmental concerns, such as PNEA's functions of tourism economic development and environmental education, are crucial for low-carbon sustainable development. The findings quite clearly account for the contributions of ecotourism certification in promoting sustainable development and the benefits of effective policy instruments. • The PNEA certification implemented by China's central government is different from the Western ecotourism certifications. • The approval of China's unique ecotourism certification can reduce regional carbon emissions by 1.1% per capita. • The economic development function and environmental education function are key to promoting public environmental concerns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the goal of "carbon peaking" and "carbon neutrality" in China, it is significant to explore whether green finance contributes to carbon emission reduction. Therefore, based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2020, this paper empirically examines the impact of green finance on carbon emissions and its mechanism using the FE model, GMM model, DID, and the mediating effect model. Results find that green finance can significantly promote carbon emissions reduction, and this promotion remains still after robustness tests. The heterogeneity analysis shows that green finance's carbon emission reduction effect is more significant in developed and western regions. Moreover, the results of policy intervention effects confirm that green finance reform and innovation pilot zones (GFRIs) for carbon emission reduction are more pronounced than in other regions. Finally, the mediating effects reveal that industrial structure and green innovation are the core transmission channels through which green finance influences carbon emission reduction. These findings offer meaningful implications for formulating reasonable carbon emission reduction plans and determining the future development direction of green finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality" is one of the important tasks of China's current and future economic construction and development, but the carbon emission reduction effect of High-speed rail (HSR) has not yet been fully studied. In this paper, based on the panel data of 274 cities in China from 2003 to 2016, we take the opening of HSR in the cities as a "Quasi-natural Experiment", and construct the Multi-period Difference-in-Difference Model to explore whether the opening of HSR can reduce carbon emissions of cities along the route, and use the mediating effect model and moderating effect model to further analyze its internal mechanisms. We find that:①The opening of HSR can significantly reduce the carbon emissions of cities along the route, and the opening of HSR in a city will reduce the carbon emissions of the city by about 2.4% on average, and this carbon emission reduction effect usually manifests significantly in the first year after the opening of HSR, and increases year by year thereafter.②The mechanism test shows that the traffic substitution effect, the optimization of the industrial structure and the promotion of economic agglomeration have partial mediating effect on the influence between the opening of HSR and urban carbon emissions. In addition, the increase in the intensity of government environmental regulations can strengthen the effect of the opening of HSR on reducing urban carbon emissions.③The regional heterogeneity research shows that the opening of HSR has a more significant impact on the carbon emissions of cities in the eastern coastal region and western region of China. Moreover, in the western region, the reduction effect of the opening of HSR on carbon emissions is only reflected in the key cities rather than ordinary prefecture-level cities. This paper provides certain reference significance for promoting low-carbon and green economy and helping China to achieve the "Carbon Neutrality" climate action goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]