{"title":"Pathways to China's carbon neutrality and clean energy transition: Evidence from the three decades long stricter environmental regulations","authors":"Khalid Ahmed , Bareerah Khan , Muhammad Shahbaz","doi":"10.1016/j.sftr.2024.100296","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This study highlights the ongoing debate surrounding China's slow low-carbon transition despite a rapid shift towards clean energy. However, this debate is crucial for finding pathways to China's pledge to carbon neutrality. Using Auto-Regression Distributed Lag model over the time series data spanning 1990–2020, study attempts to add to the literature by exploring the nexus betwixt environmental regulations, renewable energy transition, and carbon dioxide emissions along with incumbent macroeconomic factors i.e., economic growth and trade. The findings conclude that stringent environmental regulations spur renewable energy transition and combat carbon dioxide emissions. However, energy intensive growth suggests China's priority for development targets ˗ leading to continued increase in fossil fuels despite the remarkable increase in renewable energy resources in country's total energy mix. Moreover, trade remains the crucial component of economic growth but found helping for renewable energy transition in the short-run. The two-way causality between these factors validate the regression results. Whereas the inelastic and insignificant relationship between stringent environmental regulations, renewables, and carbon dioxide emissions in the long run – highlights prospective challenges in terms of efficiency, management, and subsidy-related issues. Thus, the study suggest that trade liberalization helps the country to achieve its carbon abatement goals. However, further market based policy reforms toward stricter environmental regulations are needed for innovation driven efficiency in the energy sector.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":34478,"journal":{"name":"Sustainable Futures","volume":"8 ","pages":"Article 100296"},"PeriodicalIF":3.3000,"publicationDate":"2024-09-17","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266618882400145X/pdfft?md5=66180570747b6626c751d6f01087d0a7&pid=1-s2.0-S266618882400145X-main.pdf","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Sustainable Futures","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S266618882400145X","RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"社会学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q2","JCRName":"ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
This study highlights the ongoing debate surrounding China's slow low-carbon transition despite a rapid shift towards clean energy. However, this debate is crucial for finding pathways to China's pledge to carbon neutrality. Using Auto-Regression Distributed Lag model over the time series data spanning 1990–2020, study attempts to add to the literature by exploring the nexus betwixt environmental regulations, renewable energy transition, and carbon dioxide emissions along with incumbent macroeconomic factors i.e., economic growth and trade. The findings conclude that stringent environmental regulations spur renewable energy transition and combat carbon dioxide emissions. However, energy intensive growth suggests China's priority for development targets ˗ leading to continued increase in fossil fuels despite the remarkable increase in renewable energy resources in country's total energy mix. Moreover, trade remains the crucial component of economic growth but found helping for renewable energy transition in the short-run. The two-way causality between these factors validate the regression results. Whereas the inelastic and insignificant relationship between stringent environmental regulations, renewables, and carbon dioxide emissions in the long run – highlights prospective challenges in terms of efficiency, management, and subsidy-related issues. Thus, the study suggest that trade liberalization helps the country to achieve its carbon abatement goals. However, further market based policy reforms toward stricter environmental regulations are needed for innovation driven efficiency in the energy sector.
期刊介绍:
Sustainable Futures: is a journal focused on the intersection of sustainability, environment and technology from various disciplines in social sciences, and their larger implications for corporation, government, education institutions, regions and society both at present and in the future. It provides an advanced platform for studies related to sustainability and sustainable development in society, economics, environment, and culture. The scope of the journal is broad and encourages interdisciplinary research, as well as welcoming theoretical and practical research from all methodological approaches.