Are Industrial Structure Adjustment and Technical Progress Conducive to Environmental Improvement?

China actively broadens its channels for environmental protection and limits pollutant emissions through industrial structure adjustment and technical progress. Based on panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2017, this study investigated the effects of industrial structure adjustment and technical progress on environmental pollution using spatial Dubin models. The findings show the following. (1) As the economy develops, the situation of environmental pollution in various regions deteriorates; moreover, spatio-temporal dependence is an aspect of environmental pollution. (2) Industrial structure adjustment and technical progress are beneficial to environmental improvement. Furthermore, there are spillover effects in factors such as industrial structure and technical progress to varying degrees. Thus, this study suggests that the path of coupling between industrial structure and technical progress should be explored to establish a pollution filtering mechanism, thereby improving environmental quality.

Evaluation of Economic Security of Water Resources and Analysis of Influencing Factors

To effectively evaluate the level of economic security of water resources (WES) in China and analyze its influencing factors, a comprehensive evaluation model of WES and a regression analysis model of influencing factors are established based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2017. It is found that, first, WES in China presents a fluctuating upward trend. Second, different regions have different economic security levels for their water resources in China, among which WES in the central region is the highest. Third, there is a U-shaped correlation between economic development and WES, and the population, pollution control level, technological innovation have negative impacts on WES. Moreover, this study also finds that with upgrades to the industrial structure and level of human capital, there will be improvements to WES. However, the external coefficient and the investment scale of fixed assets have a negative impact on the economic security of water resources. This is helpful to utilize the water resources, and improve the water resources safety management.

Exploring Future Promising Technologies in Hydrogen Fuel Cell Transportation

The purpose of this research was to derive promising technologies for the transport of hydrogen fuel cells, thereby supporting the development of research and development policy and presenting directions for investment. We also provide researchers with information about technology that will lead the technology field in the future. Hydrogen energy, as the core of carbon neutral and green energy, is a major issue in changing the future industrial structure and national competitive advantage. In this study, we derived promising technology at the core of future hydrogen fuel cell transportation using the published US patent and paper databases (DB). We first performed text mining and data preprocessing and then discovered promising technologies through generative topographic mapping analysis. We analyzed both the patent DB and treatise DB in parallel and compared the results. As a result, two promising technologies were derived from the patent DB analysis, and five were derived from the paper DB analysis.

Does the digital finance revolution validate the Environmental Kuznets Curve? Empirical findings from China

In recent years, digital finance has become a crucial part of the financial system and reshaped the mode of green finance in China. Digital finance has brought certain impact on economic growth, industrial structure, and resident income, which may affect pollution. The nexus of digital finance and environment in China is thus worth exploring. By revising the traditional Environmental Kuznets Curve model with income inequality variable, this paper decomposes the environmental effects of economic activities into income growth effect, industrial structure effect and income inequality effect, and use panel data of China’s provinces to conduct an empirical analysis. The results reveal the following: (1) the Environmental Kuznets Curve is still valid in sample, and digital finance can reduce air and water pollution (as measured through SO2 and COD emission) directly; (2) in the influence mechanism, digital finance can alleviate income inequality and promote green industrial structure, thus reducing pollution indirectly, but the scale effect of income growth outweighs the technological effect, which increases pollution indirectly; and (3) digital finance has a threshold effect on improving the environment, then an acceleration effect appears after a certain threshold value. From the regional perspective, digital finance development in eastern regions is generally ahead of central and western regions, and the effects of environmental improvement in the eastern regions are greater. According to the study, this paper suggest that digital finance can be an effective way to promote social sustainability by alleviating income inequality and environmental sustainability by reducing pollution.

Can Industrial Restructuring Improve Urban Air Quality?—A Quasi-Experiment in Beijing during the COVID-19 Pandemic

The conflict between economic growth and environmental pollution has become a considerable bottleneck to future development throughout the world. The industrial structure may become the possible key factor in resolving the contradiction. Using the daily data of air quality from January to April in 2019 and 2020, we used the DID model to identify the effects of industrial structure on air quality by taking the COVID-19 pandemic as a quasi-experiment. The results show that, first, the impact of profit of the secondary industry on air quality is ten times higher than that of the tertiary industry. Therefore, the secondary industry is the main factor causing air pollution. Second, the effect of the reduction in the secondary industry on the improvement of air quality is better than that of the tertiary industry in Beijing. Therefore, the implementation of Beijing’s non-capital function relief policy is timely and reasonable, and the adjustment of the industrial structure is effective in the improvement of air quality. Third, PM2.5, NO2, and CO are affected by the secondary and tertiary industries, where PM2.5 is affected most seriously by the second industry. Therefore, the transformation from the secondary industry to the tertiary industry can not only solve the problem of unemployment but also relieve the haze. Fourth, the result of O3 is in opposition to other pollutants. The probable reason is that the decrease of PM2.5 would lead to an increase in the O3 concentration. Therefore, it is difficult to reduce O3 concentrationby production limitation and it is urgent to formulate scientific methods to deal with O3 pollution. Fifth, the air quality in the surrounding areas can also influence Beijing. As Hebei is a key area to undertake Beijing’s industry, the deterioration of its air quality would also bring pressure to Beijing’s atmospheric environment. Therefore, in the process of industrial adjustment, the selection of appropriate regions for undertaking industries is very essential, which is worth our further discussion.

Financial Inclusion and Carbon Reduction: Evidence From Chinese Counties

With the improvement of inclusive financial system, China’s economy has made significant development and growth. It worth in-depth investigation on environmental impact of financial inclusion, since growing GDP usually accompanied by more intensive carbon emission. This paper aims to reveal whether financial inclusion contributes to the carbon reduction in China using county-level dataset. A fixed-effect panel regression approach is adopted to examine the impact of financial inclusion on county-level regional carbon emissions. The estimation results imply that financial inclusion plays an important role in reducing carbon emissions. The mediation effect analysis reveals two channels through which financial inclusion imposes negative impact on the level of regional carbon emissions. One is to elevate the carbon sequestration capacity by increasing vegetation coverage, and the other is to improve the industrial structure through enhanced financial support. In addition to being a bridge between economic opportunity and output, financial inclusion can also act as an effective measure for addressing climate change.

An Aging Giant At The Center of Global Warming: Population Dynamics and Its Effect on CO2 Emissions in China

Managing the aging crisis and mitigating CO2 emissions are currently two great challenges faced by China. Revealing the complex correlation between aging and CO2, and projecting their future dynamics are fundamentally necessary to inform effective strategies and policies toward a low-carbon and sustainable development in China. In this paper, we quantitatively investigated the impacts of population aging, economy, and energy intensity on CO2 emissions through a STIRPAT model based on balanced provincial panel data from 1995-2019, and employed a cohort model and scenario analysis to project the demographic change and CO2 emissions till 2050. It is found that CO2 emissions in China has witnessed a significant growth during 1995-2019, and will exhibit an inverted U-shaped growth till 2050 with its peak appears between 2030-2040. Every 1% increase of aging will exert a 0.69% emission of CO2 in China. However, a big regional difference was also detected as aging contributed to CO2 reduction in the eastern region, but stimulated CO2 emissions in the central and western regions. Policy implications for achieving a low-carbon and aging-oriented sustainable development include the integration of aging into the decision-making of industrial structure upgrading and CO2 emission reduction in both national and region levels, the promotion of the further transition to low-carbon consumption and green products in the eastern region, and strengthening the deep fusion of aging-oriented industries with local resource and environmental endowment in the central and western regions such as the development of eco-agriculture and green pension industries.