Empirical analysis of the role of the environmental accountability system in energy conservation and emission reduction in China
Abstract Many developing countries are facing the difficulty of choosing between economic growth and energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER). China has strengthened the implementation of ECER by setting environmental accountability as the development goal of local governments, hoping to ha...
| Main Authors: | , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Portfolio
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Scientific Reports |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19604-8 |
| _version_ | 1818064836314005504 |
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| author | Chunying Cui Jing Li Zhaoying Lu Ziwei Yan |
| author_facet | Chunying Cui Jing Li Zhaoying Lu Ziwei Yan |
| author_sort | Chunying Cui |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Many developing countries are facing the difficulty of choosing between economic growth and energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER). China has strengthened the implementation of ECER by setting environmental accountability as the development goal of local governments, hoping to have better governance effects. To evaluate the actual intervention effect of this approach, this paper constructs panel data covering 46 countries from 1995 to 2014 and uses the difference-in-differences (DID) method and the composite control method to quantitatively analyse the policy effect. The results show that China can effectively curb energy consumption and carbon emission intensity per unit of GDP by adding ECER targets to the government’s five-year plan, which has significant effects on ECER. Furthermore, we use an intermediary mechanism to test and identify low-carbon alternatives and an ECER promotion mechanism for technological advancement. The conclusion shows that economic development is compatible with low carbon and energy consumption. Combined with China’s long-term goals for ECER, it can be considered that on the road to achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in the future, the economy and tertiary industry should be rationally developed, the degree of urbanization should receive more attention, and the proportion of thermal power generation should be reduced. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-10T14:42:19Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-3b12b73a29574cf6a6ba6aef6f4eb1f4 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2045-2322 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-10T14:42:19Z |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Nature Portfolio |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Scientific Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-3b12b73a29574cf6a6ba6aef6f4eb1f42022-12-22T01:44:40ZengNature PortfolioScientific Reports2045-23222022-09-0112111410.1038/s41598-022-19604-8Empirical analysis of the role of the environmental accountability system in energy conservation and emission reduction in ChinaChunying Cui0Jing Li1Zhaoying Lu2Ziwei Yan3Department of Economics and Management, Wenhua CollegeSchool of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry UniversityAdam Smith School of Economics and Finance, University of GlasgowDepartment of Economics and Management, Wenhua CollegeAbstract Many developing countries are facing the difficulty of choosing between economic growth and energy conservation and emission reduction (ECER). China has strengthened the implementation of ECER by setting environmental accountability as the development goal of local governments, hoping to have better governance effects. To evaluate the actual intervention effect of this approach, this paper constructs panel data covering 46 countries from 1995 to 2014 and uses the difference-in-differences (DID) method and the composite control method to quantitatively analyse the policy effect. The results show that China can effectively curb energy consumption and carbon emission intensity per unit of GDP by adding ECER targets to the government’s five-year plan, which has significant effects on ECER. Furthermore, we use an intermediary mechanism to test and identify low-carbon alternatives and an ECER promotion mechanism for technological advancement. The conclusion shows that economic development is compatible with low carbon and energy consumption. Combined with China’s long-term goals for ECER, it can be considered that on the road to achieving carbon peaking and carbon neutrality in the future, the economy and tertiary industry should be rationally developed, the degree of urbanization should receive more attention, and the proportion of thermal power generation should be reduced.https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19604-8 |
| spellingShingle | Chunying Cui Jing Li Zhaoying Lu Ziwei Yan Empirical analysis of the role of the environmental accountability system in energy conservation and emission reduction in China Scientific Reports |
| title | Empirical analysis of the role of the environmental accountability system in energy conservation and emission reduction in China |
| title_full | Empirical analysis of the role of the environmental accountability system in energy conservation and emission reduction in China |
| title_fullStr | Empirical analysis of the role of the environmental accountability system in energy conservation and emission reduction in China |
| title_full_unstemmed | Empirical analysis of the role of the environmental accountability system in energy conservation and emission reduction in China |
| title_short | Empirical analysis of the role of the environmental accountability system in energy conservation and emission reduction in China |
| title_sort | empirical analysis of the role of the environmental accountability system in energy conservation and emission reduction in china |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-19604-8 |
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