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Many regions or countries seek to transition to a low-carbon economy, but there is ambiguity about how carbon emissions change with economic growth. This paper captures characteristics of carbon emissions in China using the Tapio Method. To detect driving factors of carbon emissions in economic growth, we adopt the Log-Mean Divisia Index decomposition method. The results of the paper are as follows: (1) Economic growth in most regions of China has outpaced the growth rate of carbon emissions, showing the characteristics of decoupling. (2) Metropolitan cities have a greater impact on the level of decoupling in neighboring provinces and municipalities. (3) The decoupling of carbon emissions from economic growth is caused by declining energy intensity in China. (4) The energy mix and industrial structure have little impact on the growth rate of carbon emissions. In addition, some policy implications are summarized according to the findings of this paper. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To explore the potential effect of industrial transfer on carbon lock-in in China, this paper constructed the measurement formula of industrial transfer based on output and demand, and calculated carbon lock-in according to carbon sink and carbon emissions. By means of a spatial autoregressive model and a panel threshold model, we discussed the spatial spillover of carbon lock-in and the effect of industrial transfer. The findings are as follows: (1) The level of carbon lock-in does have a positive spatial spillover effect between economic neighboring provinces. (2) The effect of industrial transfer on carbon lock-in depends on industry characteristics. (3) Technological progress has direct and indirect carbon unlocking effects, energy structure, trade openness and increased fiscal expenditure exacerbate the carbon lock-in dilemma, while economic growth and carbon lock-in show an inverted "U" relationship. (4) There is a non-linear relationship between industrial transfer and carbon lock-in. Finally, we propose some recommendations to reduce dependence on high-carbon fossil energy and speed up the process of carbon unlocking in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Embodied carbon emissions research is an important branch of climate change study. Some scholars have noted the value-added chains associated with the carbon emissions embodied in international trade. But they have not covered the global scale and the entire demand-supply chains. This paper tries to investigate this issue and answer how much value-added is gained by countries, especially developing regions that are the main carbon emissions suppliers in the world, and how this value-added changed during 2000–2014, based on the multi-regional input-output table. The conclusions are, on a global average, the value-added gained per unit of carbon emissions embodied in the global demand-supply chain had increased, but it had not brought net value-added to developing regions but instead caused them a net loss of wealth, mainly because developing regions should pay more value-added for their increasingly external demand. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies in the literature examine the income inequality-environment nexus at the country level. In this paper, we argue that the impact of inequality on sectoral emissions might vary and should be examined by considering sectoral-level differences. We focus on 28 OECD economies and use DOLSMG, BA-OLS, and CUP-FM estimators. Our findings reveal that a cointegration relationship exists among the series in the long run, indicating that both income and income inequality are crucial factors in sectoral emissions. The estimates show that a 1% increase in the Gini index leads to an increase in emissions from the power and building sectors by about 1.4%. On the other hand, a 1% rise in the Gini index positively contributes to the environment in the transport, other industrial combustion, and other sectors by about 0.05%, 0.05%, and 0.02%, respectively. Policies aimed at reducing carbon emissions should be designed at the sectoral level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The feasibility and efficiency of public policies aimed at decarbonizing tourism also depend on tourists' attitudes and acceptance. This paper investigates tourists' preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for decarbonizing strategies applied to transportation and hotel accommodation. Two discrete choice experiments were conducted in the Dolomites area in Italy using direct and indirect question formats. The combination of question formats is proposed as an instrument to reduce hypothetical bias and obtain conservative WTP-range estimates. Results suggest low to zero willingness to pay for the two key attributes: the use of electric trains that produce lower amounts of carbon emissions and the possibility to offset the carbon emissions associated with tourists' hotel stays. These results indicate the need for new policy interventions to promote forms of public-private partnerships to support public and private investments, increase tourists' awareness of decarbonizing strategies and foster a move toward more sustainable behaviors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The relationship between information and communication technology (ICT) and carbon emissions has been inconsistent. Based on the panel data for 261 cities from 2008 to 2018 in China, this paper takes the “Broadband China” pilot policy as a quasi-natural experiment, and uses the difference-in-differences model, instrumental variable approach and other research methods to comprehensively evaluate the impact of the “Broadband China” pilot policy on carbon emissions. Our research found that the “Broadband China” pilot policy can reduce carbon emissions in China, but there was a certain lag in this effect. At the same time, the “Broadband China” pilot policy can reduce carbon emissions by promoting adjustment of industrial structure and green technology innovation, and the mechanism of green technology innovation played a stronger role. In addition, we also found that there was a spatial spillover effect of the “Broadband China” pilot policy affecting carbon emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Carbon emissions emanating from infrastructure construction are substantial, and public infrastructure clients have begun to include carbon reduction goals in their procurement requirements. This is a new and complex field where practices vary and are still developing. Based on project documentation and interviews we map and analyze the design and implementation of carbon reduction requirements in projects by leading infrastructure clients in Australia, the Netherlands, Sweden, the US and the UK. Procurement requirements were influenced by concerns for tender competition, transaction costs and innovation, and further adapted to project delivery models, market maturity and client capabilities. Increasing awareness of practical and contextual constraints often led to modified strategies. This paper identifies factors that should be considered when designing carbon policies and requirements. This knowledge is important for clients and governments in order to develop more effective strategies for learning between contexts. Policies and future research should address client capabilities to drive long-term innovation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

China's economy is faced with mounting pressure to reduce CO2 emissions. This study estimates the impact of green innovation and institutional quality on CO2 emissions, and examines the moderating effect of institutional quality. The results show that: (1) Green innovation significantly reduced CO2 emissions. Institutional quality has a negative moderating effect on the relationship between green innovation and CO2 emissions, such that when institutional quality is high, green innovation has a stronger reduction in CO2 emissions. (2) Green innovation significantly reduced CO2 emissions in the eastern and western regions. Moreover, as institutional quality improves, the reduction of CO2 emissions through green innovation increased in the western region. (3) Green innovation in 2013–2017 had a greater effect on CO2 emissions reduction than 2005–2012. Moreover, with the improvement of institutional quality, green innovation's reduction of CO2 emissions in 2005–2012 was weakened, whereas the reduction of CO2 emissions by green innovation increased in 2013–2017. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Culling feral camels will impact on the carbon emissions from them. Culling of feral camels stops their long-term continuous methane emission, but emits carbon from their carcasses in the short term. Through on-site monitoring of the decomposition process of camels that have been shot dead, this paper models the pattern of carbon emissions during the decomposition of these camels in Central Australia, and analyses the contribution of the camel culling programme to carbon emission mitigation on the rangelands. A ‘carbon royalty’ payment mechanism is also suggested to encourage local participation in carbon markets through an involvement in natural resource management. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper reports the pros and cons of co-management (i.e. concerted actions towards climate change and air quality management) through local sustainability initiatives using three case studies, each encompassing the planning and management issues at local government levels. Case study I is policy-based and reports the outcome of a consultation exercise while case studies II and III have greater scientific bearing. These case studies pave the way for development of a more integrated Climate Change Strategy Action Plan at local scales, specifically regarding policies on emissions sources from transportation and decentralised energy. They highlight the merits and the trade-offs of implementing local scale co-management practices, using a more integrated planning framework than what is currently under offer. We recognise that delivery of such ambitious, cross-cutting agenda may be impeded, primarily owing to limited expertise in assessing the synergies and the expected outcomes from cross-fertility between these two arenas. This calls for a step-change through more cohesive, cross-disciplinary policy frameworks, going beyond the local administrative spheres to maximise the co-management potentials while mitigating the wider environmental impacts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to unravel the environmental effects of institutional quality in relationship with China's Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries. The empirical analysis is conducted over the period 2003–2018, using the System-GMM approach with the Windmeijer finite-sample correction. We infer that China's FDI has a detrimental effect on environmental quality, which validates the 'pollution haven hypothesis' in the BRI region. Importantly, the interaction effect of China's FDI with indicators of institutional quality yields negative and significant results. This entails that strong institutions can boost the quality of the environment through FDI attractiveness. In further assessment, the threshold levels of institutional quality are calculated, beyond which China's FDI can reduce carbon emissions in the BRI region. This substantiates both the pollution haven and pollution halo hypotheses. The study underscores the importance of institutional reform in the quest for sustainable development, owing to the fact that most economies prioritize FDI-led growth strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to evaluate the impacts of international tourism development and green technology innovation on economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions in the top 10 GDP countries between 1995 and 2018. Our preliminary findings reject the preposition of data normality, which instigate us to apply a novel method of moments quantile regression. The overall results suggest that international tourism development facilitates economic growth and increases carbon dioxide emissions asymmetrically across the different levels of economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions. Specifically, the economic growth impacts are relatively large for the comparatively more developed nations while the adverse environmental impacts are relatively larger for the comparatively less-polluted nations; thus, the tourism led-economic growth hypothesis is verified. On the other hand, green technology innovation is found to facilitate economic growth and mitigate carbon dioxide emissions, especially in the context of the relatively more developed and polluted economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Investment and construction of energy and transport-related infrastructure are closely linked to the achievement of sustainable development goals. China's infrastructure-led foreign investment, technical integration, and tourism with Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) countries have maintained exponential growth. This growth certainly has an impact on economic development mode and environmental sustainability. Therefore, this study examines the impact of infrastructure-led Chinese outward foreign direct investment, tourism development, and technology innovation on carbon emissions across the selected BRI node countries and respective regions. This study employs cross-sectional autoregressive distributive lag model to deal with parameters and cross-sectional heterogeneity. The results exhibit that foreign direct investment and technology innovation reduces carbon emissions in the long run, while tourism development and its interaction with foreign direct investment led to higher emissions in the overall BRI sample. In contrast, the regional estimates show significant variations in the magnitude and direction of the relationship, where foreign direct investment produces an emissions-increasing effect in South Asian and MENA countries. Moreover, the results support the validity of the Environmental Kuznets Curve hypothesis in overall and regional samples. These results are also endorsed by common correlated effects means group estimator and imply relevant policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aims to revisit the evidence of co-movement and lead-lag nexus between carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth in G7 countries over a period of two centuries by using the wavelet coherence analysis. The key findings reveal (i) a cyclical relationship between carbon dioxide emissions and GDP per capita, which implies that during the upswing phase of business cycles, economic growth and carbon dioxide emissions both grow, but the latter can be predicted using GDP as an indicator function at the 1- to 2-year scale. (ii) A time-scale bidirectional causality between carbon dioxide emissions and GDP per capita. This implies that carbon dioxide emissions cannot be reduced without adversely affecting economic growth. Further, the finding also implies a rapid adoption of alternative clean energy sources to reduce carbon dioxide emissions without depressing economic growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, emerging, developed, and developing economies have placed great emphasis on the need to attain environmental sustainability while achieving economic expansion. In an effort to offer possible policy options toward the attainment of sustainable development, this study examines the effect of economic growth on carbon emissions mitigation. Yearly panel data for 44 countries comprised of emerging, developed, and developing economies from 1990 to 2017 is used. To address the gap in the literature, this nexus is examined on seven layers of carbon emissions. This study reveals reliable and robust empirical findings with the use of system and difference general method of moments, random and fixed effects using the Durbin-Wu-Hausman test model, and feasible general least-squares estimation approaches. Our findings indicate that for developed economies, carbon emissions by the power industry have been mitigated and increased domestic credit to the private sector leads to a decrease in all layers of carbon emissions. Nevertheless, gross national income increase negatively impacts emissions by the transport sector. In emerging and developing economies, increased domestic credit to the private sector increases emissions by the power industry, transport sector, buildings, other combustion industries, and other non-major sectors. For all economies, an increase in domestic savings leads to an increase in all layers of carbon emissions. Compared with prior studies that simply focus on gross domestic product and total carbon emissions, our study provides detailed insights on the carbon emissions mitigation efforts by sector and economic group given the true drivers of economic expansion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the tourism economic dynamics under the carbon intensity target policy with macroeconomic uncertainty. Using a novel multi-sector dynamic stochastic general equilibrium model, this article presents the impulse responses of the tourism economy to productivity shocks and carbon intensity target shocks in terms of output, employment, and consumption. The results show that, generally, productivity shocks have positive effects while carbon intensity target shocks negatively affect the tourism aggregate economy. The reduced carbon intensity target offsets these positive effects as well as enlarging these negative effects. Furthermore, the effects of exogenous shocks vary significantly across tourism sectors. As a whole, tourism-related transport and accommodation sectors are the most affected. In addition, different carbon intensity targets mean the different volatility and persistence of the effects of exogenous shocks. This study contributes to a better understanding of tourism economic dynamics under a specific emissions policy, thereby contributing to relevant decision-making. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Voluntary environmental and social certifications represent a channel by which firms can contribute to sustainable development. Using qualitative and quantitative methods, we explore the motivations and obstacles that Costa Rican companies face when adopting Carbon Neutral (CN) and Fairtrade (FT) certifications. CN is a domestic certification aimed at reducing or offsetting carbon emissions and fighting climate change. FT is a well-known international label that guarantees compliance with environmental and social standards. We conclude that ethical and environmental reasons influence the managers' decision, along with economic and strategic incentives, such as improving the image of the company and the relationship with stakeholders. High investment and certification costs are ranked as the most difficult obstacles to overcome. By exploring the differences between both certifications, we find out that increasing sales, market shares or prices are more important motivations for the FT companies than for CN ones. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Today, China is the second-largest, fastest-growing economy in the world. This study analyzes asymmetric and time-varying impact of world energy prices (including world energy prices index, world coal prices, world crude oil prices and world natural gas prices) on China's CO2 emissions. We used a non-linear ARDL (NARDL) model and wavelet analysis using monthly data from 1992 to 2017. The results based on the NARDL estimate show that world energy prices have an asymmetric impact on CO2 emissions. However, the results of wavelet pairwise correlation and wavelet-transform coherence suggest that the relationship between world energy prices and CO2 emissions differs over time and across sectors (i.e. short-term, medium-term, long-term and very long-term). Evidence suggests that ignoring fundamental non-linearities can lead to misleading outcomes. Such empirical results are expected to have a high importance for the efficient design and implementation of world energy prices and Chinese environmental policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]