• Energy Research
• CN close
• Frontiers in Environmental Science close

Introduction: The prospective Belt and Road (B&R) Initiative by China must be thoroughly examined by the participating nations in all respects. It is now essential to investigate whether the digital economy of the B&R countries can support green total factor productivity (GTFP). This study examines the connection between green total factor productivity (GTFP) and the digital economy in B&R countries with the aim of providing China with practical recommendations for advancing the initiative.Methods: This study explores 40 B&R countries from 2006 to 2021, calculates the GTFP using the unexpected super-efficient SBM model and the Global Malmquist-Luenberger index method, and constructs the digital economy index using the principal component analysis method. OLS, FMOLS methods, and spatial panel regressions are used to examine the digital economy-GTFP nexus.Results and Discussion: In the selected 40 B&R countries, there is a non-linear relationship between the digital economy and GTFP, and the overall effect of the digital economy on GTFP is negative, implying that the growth of the digital economy will cause a decline in GTFP. Energy transition has mediation effects that can mitigate the negative impact of digital economic growth on GTFP. The spatial spillover effects of the digital economy on the GTFP of neighboring countries are evident. There is also heterogeneity; the digital economy will reduce GTFP in high- and middle-income countries, but the negative effects are not evident in low-income countries. This paper adds to the discussion of the digital economy and green development by drawing different conclusions from previous studies using a variety of regression models, providing a fresh foundation for policy-making.

The study investigates the nexus of CO2 emissions, tourism, fossil fuels, and GDP growth using China’s data from 1970 to 2019. The research applied the upset U-molded EKC and the ARDL -models to calculate the time series stationarity variables. The results showed that in the initial enlargement phases, a sophisticated GDP adversely impacts CO2 emissions, then a higher GDP positively influences CO2 emissions. The development of tourism, use of fossil fuels (coal and oil), and population growth show an important influence on CO2 emissions but the use of gas and electricity has little effect on CO2 emissions. In contrast, foreign direct investment besides population development had little effect on increasing CO2 emissions. Retreating foreign direct investment, strengthening the use of sustainable electricity, and improving transportation for explorers, especially the green tourism business, are excellent ways to reduce environmental degradation in China.

Half the population of China live in coastal zones where 70% of large cities are also located. Intensive human activities pose significant environmental and ecological hazards to these cities that are already vulnerable to natural hazards and climate change. The sustainable development of coastal cities is thus both a national and international issue. Rongcheng is a typical coastal city in east China. It is a national marine ranch demonstration area that is subjected to multi-stressors from human activities and climate change. The dominant economic sectors include aquaculture and fisheries, agriculture, shipping and tourism. A multitude of resulting pressures come mainly from intensified human activities, such as intensive aquaculture, overfishing, industrial pollutants, agricultural runoff, land reclamation and port expansion. In addition, Rongcheng is also facing exogenic pressures from extreme climate events such as intensified storms, storm surges, droughts and sea ice. A growing awareness of these problems brought together a trans-disciplinary group from local government, research institutions, local practitioners and coastal representatives to jointly explore and co-design adaptive coastal management options. In this transdisciplinary study, a social-ecological analysis based on a combination of the Systems Approach Framework and the Drivers-Pressures-States-Impacts-Responses framework was used to analyze and formulate an adaptive management plan for the sustainability of Rongcheng. More than 40 stakeholders including government, companies, civil society and institutions participated in the study through questionnaires and on-site meetings. A statistical analysis of the results identified urgent issues impeding the sustainable development of Rongcheng. The issues identified were poorly regulated aquaculture, loss of shoreline, and the decline of seagrass and cultural heritage. The study identified management options and measures, some of which were adopted by the local government in a co-designed management plan. The measures included upgrading of aquaculture industry, habitat conservation and restoration, and the development of cultural tourism. Another outcome was the increased knowledge exchange between stakeholders to inform management, policy, and decision making, as well as raised awareness of vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change. The success of this case study provides a reference for the adaptive management of other coastal cities and their sustainable development in a changing climate.

Low-carbon technological progress is an important way to achieve energy conservation and emission reduction, as well as achieve the goal of peaking carbon emission and carbon neutrality. Due to the difference in energy input structure, the difficulty of attaining low-carbon technology progress in industries with different energy consumption levels will lead to different responses to environmental regulation, affecting energy efficiency. This paper demonstrates the theoretical mechanism of how environmental regulation affects energy-saving efficiency through low-carbon technological progress in industries with different energy consumption levels. By reconstructing energy consumption of different industries in each province, this paper estimates the low-carbon technology progress in high-energy-consuming industries and low-energy-consuming industries in 30 provinces and cities of China from 2000 to 2016. It carries out empirical tests using mediating effect model. The results show that nationwide, the impact of environmental regulation on energy efficiency through low-carbon technology progress is U-shaped. Low-carbon technology progress accelerates the inflection point, indicating that the progress of low-carbon technology is beneficial for strict environmental regulation policies to improve energy efficiency. It shows there is asymmetric regional heterogeneity in the impact of environmental regulation on energy efficiency through low-carbon technology progress in high-energy-consuming and low-energy-consuming industries: in the central-western region, the progress of low-carbon technology in high-energy-consuming industries is faster than that in low-energy-consuming industries; in eastern region, room for energy-saving through low-carbon technology in low-energy-consuming industries is more significant than that in high-energy-consuming industries. This paper provides empirical evidence and policy suggestions for China to implement differentiated environmental regulation policies in accordance with local conditions, promote green technology transformation, and conserve the ecological civilization.

To meet the carbon neutrality target and Beautiful China goal, the co-control strategy of carbon emission and air pollution is crucial. The Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region is a prominent cooperative development zone, which faces dual challenges of CO2 emission reduction and air pollution control. This study aims to find the co-benefit pathway for achieving both targets in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei. Based on an innovative and integrated framework by linking the computable general equilibrium model, atmospheric environment analysis model and health impact assessment model, we analyze the mutual co-benefits of carbon reduction and air quality improvement by climate and environmental policies. The results show significant mutual effects of CO2 emission mitigation and air pollution reduction. From the regional view, air pollutants control and CO2 mitigation policies have a relatively higher synergistic emission reduction effect in Beijing and Tianjin than in Hebei. From the sector perspective, the energy supply and transport sectors have much higher co-effects with CO2 reduction, while climate change mitigation policies have the best co-effects with air pollution reduction in the energy supply and residential sectors. Moreover, the health benefits in the air pollution control scenario (6.0 BUSD) are higher than in the decarbonization scenario (5.7 BUSD). In addition, climate mitigation policies could have tremendous synergistic air pollution reductions, even the health benefits (5.7 BUSD) may be insufficient to offset the cost (18.7 BUSD) of climate policy in the current situation. In order to better achieve the dual climate and air quality targets at lower costs, two types of policies should be better coordinated in the decision-making process.

In recent decades, energy transition has been a major structural change worldwide to replace fossil fuels. Hydropower is a valuable renewable energy source which can mitigate the electricity demand of livelihoods and help to achieve the target of carbon neutrality goals. However, owing to the hydropower construction, involuntary resettles are suffering with land and socio-economic security. Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) play a vital role in promoting a just transition for reservoir migrants. The present study examines the work of local NGOs in a reservoir resettlement area in China through semi-structural interviews, and participant observations followed by qualitative analysis. Study explores how the NGOs organize reservoir migrants to participate in post-relocation support (PReS) projects. The study finds that the organized participation of reservoir migrants in PReS is the key process required to achieve a just transition. Moreover, NGOs ensure that all affected reservoir migrants have equal access to development opportunities through the three linked levels of co-construction, co-management, and co-sharing through the elite-driven establishment of benefit linkages and fair benefit distribution, and ultimately achieve a standard of living for migrants. Organized participation improves the equity and sustainability of benefits for reservoir migrants, but organizing reservoir migrants requires firm support from the local, regional and national governments, and the trust of migrants in local NGOs. Findings further stated that the PRes policy still has some blank spot, therefore, it is necessary to frame robust policy frameworks to restore the livelihoods of reservoir migrants.

Food security and environmental health are directly linked with soil carbon (C). Soil C plays a crucial role in securing food and livelihood security for the Himalayan population besides maintaining the ecological balance in the Indian Himalayas. However, soil C is being severely depleted due to anthropogenic activities. It is well known that land use management strongly impacted the soil organic carbon (SOC) dynamics and also regulates the atmospheric C chemistry. Different types of cultivation practices, i.e., forest, plantations, and crops in the Kashmir Himalayas, India, has different abilities to conserve SOC and emit C in the form of carbon dioxide (CO2). Hence, five prominent land use systems (LUC) (e.g., natural forest, natural grassland, maize-field-converted from the forest, plantation, and paddy crop) of Kashmir Himalaya were evaluated to conserve SOC, reduce C emissions, improve soil properties and develop understanding SOC pools and its fractions variations under different land use management practices. The results revealed that at 0–20 cm and 20–40 cm profile, the soil under natural forest conserved the highest total organic carbon (TOC, 24.24 g kg−1 and 18.76 g kg−1), Walkley-black carbon (WBC, 18.23 g kg−1 and 14.10 g kg−1), very-labile-carbon (VLC, 8.65 g kg−1, and 6.30 g kg−1), labile-carbon (LC, 3.58 g kg−1 and 3.14 g kg−1), less-labile-carbon (VLC, 2.59 g kg−1, and 2.00 g kg−1), non-labile-carbon (NLC, 3.41 g kg−1 and 2.66 g kg-1), TOC stock (45.88 Mg ha−1 and 41.16 Mg ha−1), WBC stock (34.50 Mg ha−1 and 30.94 Mg ha−1), active carbon pools (AC, 23.14 Mg ha−1 and 20.66 Mg ha−1), passive carbon pools (PC, 11.40 Mg ha−1 and 10.26 Mg ha−1) and carbon management index (CMI, 100), followed by the natural grassland. However, the lowest C storage was reported in paddy cropland. The soils under natural forest and natural grassland systems had a greater amount of VLC, LC, LLC, and NLC fraction than other land uses at both depths. On the other hand, maize-field-converted-from-forest-land-use soils had a higher proportion of NLC fraction than paddy soils; nonetheless, the NLC pool was maximum in natural forest soil. LUS based on forest crops maintains more SOC, while agricultural crops, such as paddy and maize, tend to emit more C in the Himalayan region. Therefore, research findings suggest that SOC under the Kashmir Himalayas can be protected by adopting suitable LUS, namely forest soil protection, and by placing some areas under plantations. The areas under the rice and maize fields emit more CO2, hence, there is a need to adopt the conservation effective measure to conserve the SOC without compromising farm productivity.

The pollution caused by foreign investment has become a serious concern of the host government and academia. Many studies have discussed much about the environmental impact of China’s OFDI in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) region, but ignored the impact of the BRI itself on China’s OFDI. This study uses the Global Malmquist–Luenberger index to measure the green technology spillover of China’s OFDI from 2005 to 2018 and studies the impact of BRI on this spillover effect with the DID (difference-in-difference) method. The results show that (1) the BRI has significantly increased the green technology spillover of China’s OFDI in countries along the routes. The heterogeneity study shows that such an effect is significant in middle- or low-income countries with high institutional quality or poor environmental performance, but not obvious in other countries. (2) The BRI promotes green technology spillover through the mechanism of increasing R&D investment, improving the environmental system, and accelerating the flow of production factors. This study provides a useful reference for developing a greener OFDI and promoting the sustainable development of regional cooperation.