By engaging in international carbon credit trading, developing countries can attract international funding and technology to support domestic low-carbon projects, contributing to their energy transition as well as further sustainable development. As the first attempt at international carbon credit trading, the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) serves as a typical sample for testing its effectiveness. Based on the panel data of 282 Chinese cities during 2005-2015, we analyze the impact of CDM projects on the energy transition of cities where they are hosted. We find that CDM contributes to the energy transition through improving the energy system performance and transition readiness, with the latter channel playing a more prominent role. The contribution of CDM to energy transition is more prominent for projects with large-scale, belonging to new and renewable energy type or other type, with low marginal abatement costs, as well as cities that are non-resource-based or with high technology absorption capacity. CDM projects have spatial spillover effects on the energy transition of neighboring cities through the energy system performance channel. Besides, CDM projects also exert electricitysupply-chain spillover effects, and the channels of bidirectional spillovers vary by the direction of electricity transmission. The CDM implementation of electricity-output cities improves the energy transition of electricityinput cities through the energy system performance channel, while the CDM implementation of electricity-input cities promotes the energy transition of electricity-output cities through the transition readiness channel. The conclusions provide beneficial enlightenment for developing countries to engage in the international carbon credit trading under Article 6.4 of the Paris Agreement and promote the energy transition.

Access to financial services plays a crucial role in shaping household consumption patterns and carbon emissions. The advancement of inclusive finance in China, known for stimulating consumption, prompted an examination of its impact on household carbon emissions. Our study reveals that inclusive finance substantially lowers Chinese household carbon emissions by enhancing green awareness and reducing income inequality. Notably, the effects of inclusive finance are more significant in rural regions and among households with younger heads. Therefore, fostering inclusive finance is essential for harmonizing financial equity with environmental sustainability.

This study investigates whether fintech development shapes the nexus between household debt and financial crises. Prior research has demonstrated a positive relationship between household debt and financial crises but has neglected to explore the heterogeneity of this effect resulting from the rapid fintech development. We used a dataset of 100 countries from 2006 to 2019 and revealed that fintech development elevates the probability of a household debt expansion resulting in a financial crisis. This effect primarily operates through increased risk-taking among traditional banks, which tend to relax their credit standards to compete with fintech lenders. Furthermore, the amplification effect of fintech development is more pronounced in countries characterized by more developed financial systems, more advanced information-sharing systems, less stringent financial regulations, and higher digitalization. These findings have enriched our understanding of how fintech influences household credit quality, providing insights into its economic consequences from the vantage point of financial crises.

Governments are committing to realizing the energy transition to create a sustainable and resilient energy future, while less is known about the real effects of the energy transition on various sectors of the economy, particularly the tertiary industry. This paper thus investigates the relationship between the energy transition and housing market bubbles at the level of prefecture cities in China. We find that an increase in one standard deviation of the energy transition decreases approximately 39% of the average housing bubbles index. Furthermore, the digital economy and land transfer income of real estate enterprises could be underlying economic channels to significantly explain the impacts of the energy transition on housing market bubbles. Finally, we identify that green finance including green loans and green bonds enhances this negative effect on housing market bubbles. Our main result remains valid in a battery of robustness tests. This study provides important practical implications for policy makers, enterprises, and investors.

The frequency, intensity and duration of extreme weather events have seriously affected human life and production. The electric power sector is the foundation of economic activity as well as a core participant in the adaptation and mitigation of climate change. Therefore, in the context of climate change, it is crucial for the stable operation of the national economy for power sector to cope with different climate change risks and improve their adaptability to climate change. In this paper, listed power companies in China are selected as samples to analyse the impact of climate change risk on the financial performance of the power system's supply and transmission -distribution sides. The empirical results show a significant positive correlation between climate change risks and the financial performance of listed electric power companies. The rainfall index and drought index positively impact the financial performance of listed electric power companies. The cryogenic freezing index has a negative impact on the financial performance of listed electric power companies., which is further analysed and proved that a cryogenic freezing disaster will cause the regional breakdown of the power system. The operating cost ratio and the proportion of clean energy supply play a mediating effect on the correlation between the comprehensive climate risk index and the return on equity of companies. To increase electric power companies' ability to adapt to climate change, climate change risks should be integrated into the risk man-agement framework, and the company's financial performance can be improved by optimizing the energy mix and constructing safe lines. The government can promote the transformation of electric power companies by launching green financial tools.

Hydrogen fuel cell vehicle industry is of great significance for China to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060 and enhance the international competitiveness in the new energy vehicle industry. We propose a framework to evaluate the leading position in the innovation network of hydrogen fuel cell vehicles and analyze the influential factors of the leading position. First, we construct China’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle innovation network and its two sub-networks through 3528 patents registered in China and applied by 254 Chinese and foreign innovators. Second, the positions of Chinese and foreign innovators in the network are evaluated. Last, the influential factors of the leading position are tested through regression analysis. The main results show that (1) China has formed a hub-and-spoke mode of innovation cluster in hydrogen fuel cell vehicle innovation network, but the inter-provincial innovation cooperation has not been formed in the industrial chain. (2) Universities and research institutes are important innovators in China’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle innovation network. Firms obtain knowledge through collaboration with them, which form an industry-university-research cooperation mode. (3) The number of Chinese leaders in hydrogen fuel cell vehicle network is increasing. Foreign innovators occupy the leading position in fuel cell sub-network, while Chinese innovators are the leaders in hydrogen infrastructure sub-network. (4) The leading position of Chinese innovators in hydrogen infrastructure sub-network is promoted by the patent applications of the universities, the development of equipment manufacturing, the government subsidies, and the competition of electric vehicles, while they are hindered by the scale of traditional automobile industry.

As a factor influencing household consumption behavior, the expansion of social networks has an important impact on household carbon emissions (HCEs). Based on survey data from the China Family Panel Studies from 2014 to 2018, we explored the impacts of the expansion of social networks on HCEs and its mechanism. We further analyzed the heterogeneous effects of household income level and characteristics of household heads on HCEs, including age and education level. Our results show that the expansion of social networks can increase HCEs through enlarging consumption quantity and upgrading consumption structure, which is motivated by the comparison behavior based on status-seeking. In addition, the expansion of social networks has a bigger impact on HCEs when the head of household is younger, the head of household has a higher level of education, and the per capita income of the household is higher. These findings suggest that adjusting consumer behavior through the expansion of social networks, cultivating green consumption concepts, and promoting the consumption of low-carbon products may become important strategies to mitigate HCEs.

Under the effective cost constraint, the emission trading system (ETS) can put pressure on the covered firms to cut emissions through reasonable system designs. Under the ETS with different system designs, firms face different cost constraints. Therefore, how ETS designs affect the value of covered firms is important to evaluate the effectiveness of ETS. Based on the Chinese A-share listed firms from 2010 to 2019, this paper employs DID, Mediation-DID, and Moderated Mediation Methods to investigate the influence of system designs of seven pilot ETSs on the value of covered firms. The main findings are as follows. First, in general, the value of covered firms is improved by the implementation of pilot ETSs. Compared with free allowances, paid allowances have a stronger promotion effect on firm value, in which the technology innovation plays a positive mediation role. Second, from the perspective of free allowances, the benchmarking method can promote firm value more effectively than the historical method, through the paths of technology innovation and carbon information disclosure (CID). Third, the increase of carbon price level and its stability can promote firm value. Specifically, the carbon price level only promotes firm value through CID, while the carbon price stability promotes firm value through technology innovation and weakens firm value through CID. Moreover, for firms owned by the State or in high‑carbon industries, the value improvement effect of ETS is more significant.

Carbon emissions associated with international trade are significant. The emergence of complex global value chains (GVCs) in recent decades, in which a country can operate as both a consumer and producer simultaneously, has led to a further rise in emissions. The complexity of these GVCs makes it increasingly difficult to determine what country is responsible for the emissions embodied within them. Here, we propose a new method based on input-output analysis to identify and distinguish self- and shared responsibility for CO2 emissions along GVCs, where self-responsibility describes emissions embodied in purely domestic value chains. Our results show that developing countries’ self-responsibility for CO2 emissions has been the largest driver in the growth of total GVC embodied emissions since 2001. Even considering the shared responsibility for emission transfers via GVCs, developing countries’ total responsibility has exceeded that of developed countries since 2012. We argue that climate negotiations should seriously consider GVC-based responsibility sharing to enable more effective climate policies.

Cities' transition from fossil-based systems of energy production and consumption to renewable energy sources-the energy transition-is critical to mitigating climate change impact as cities' energy consumption and CO2 emissions account for two-thirds and over 70% of the world's total, respectively. Given cities' heterogeneity, they need specific low-carbon roadmaps instead of one-size-fits-all approaches. Here, we used an Energy Transition Index (ETI) to characterize the city-level energy transitions from energy system performance and transition readiness dimensions. The ETI scores for 282 cities in China revealed a significant heterogeneity across cities and over time, and the gap between the cities in the top and bottom quartiles was persistent. We estimated that China's energy and carbon intensity could decrease by 34% and 32%, respectively, and that carbon per capita could fall by 17% if each city modestly follows the sustainable development path forged by the best performing cities with similar economic structures.

Cities are at the heart of climate change mitigation as they account for over 70% of global carbon emissions. However, cities vary in their energy systems and socioeconomic capacities to transition to renewable energy. To address this heterogeneity, this study proposes an Energy Transition Index (ETI) specifically designed for cities, and applies it to track the progress of energy transition in Chinese cities. The city-level ETI framework is based on the national ETI developed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) and comprises two sub-indexes: the Energy System Performance sub-index, which evaluates the current status of cities’ energy systems in terms of energy transition, and the Transition Readiness sub-index, which assesses their socioeconomic capacity for future energy transition. The initial version of the dataset includes ETI and its sub-indexes for 282 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2019, with annual updates planned. The spatiotemporal data provided by the dataset facilitates research into the energy transition roadmap for different cities, which can help China achieve its energy transition goals.

Digital infrastructure plays a pivotal role in optimizing resource allocation and fostering sustainable economic development. The question of whether digital infrastructure can break the "resource curse" in cities has been a subject of debate, with a dearth of substantial empirical evidence. Based on data from 2010 to 2021 at the prefecture level, this study employs an asymptotic difference-in-difference model to thoroughly investigate the effectiveness and underlying mechanisms of digital infrastructure, particularly in relation to the "Broadband China" strategy, in breaking the resource curse. Our findings reveal that digital infrastructure has a significant impact on mitigating the resource curse in cities. Mechanism testing demonstrates that digital infrastructure exerts a restraining effect on the "resource curse" by enhancing green innovation technologies, promoting the development of the manufacturing industry, and elevating entrepreneurial levels. Notably, digital infrastructure has a more pronounced effect in mitigating the "resource curse" in the central and western regions as well as resource-cursed areas. Furthermore, it's worth noting that the higher the level of marketization in a region, the more pronounced the effect of digital infrastructure in alleviating the "resource curse." Consequently, it is imperative to expedite the promotion of digital infrastructure construction, optimize market management mechanisms, and fully harness the advantages of digital infrastructure to facilitate the transformation of resource-based cities.

全球气候治理的核心关切是使各国聚焦聚力于气候变化问题的全球解决,避免"搭便车"行为.全球气候治理中的自愿合作机制是指借用市场化手段,为 自愿参与全球减排合作的国家和地区构建的互惠互利合作机制,其有助于提振全球减排雄心,促进可持续发展.以《京都议定书》为框架建立的1.0版本的自愿合作机制,以经济合作与发展组织中所有发达国家和经济转型国家完成强制减排任务为首要目标,发展中国家并不承担强制减排责任.以《巴黎协定》为框架建立的2.0版本的 自愿合作机制,则以实现全球整体减排为首要目标,涵盖所有发达国家和发展中国家,在促进减排的同时兼顾发展中国家的可持续发展.《巴黎协定》第六条实施细则从避免重复计算、收益分成、额外性和基准线设定、减排量结转等多方面明确了 2.0版本自愿合作机制的运行规则.中国应积极参与和引领气候变化国际合作,借助全球自愿合作机制,深入推进碳达峰碳中和工作.

EDITORIAL article Front. Environ. Sci., 24 June 2022Sec. Environmental Economics and Management https://doi.org/10.3389/fenvs.2022.953659

"搭便车"是全球气候治理的核心问题,导致全球减排缺口难以弥合,而气候俱乐部被视为重要的解决方案之一,但其实施也面临诸多挑战.首先,本文通过比较传统经济学中的俱乐部理论与气候俱乐部理论更为清晰地阐释了气候俱乐部的理论内涵,并指出气候俱乐部成果运行需要内部统一的国际目标碳价、有效的惩罚机制、稳定的成员规模、透明的监管体系和仲裁机构.其次,本文从内生和外生两个视角分析了气候俱乐部机制的实践困境,内生缺陷包括产品的非排他性、内部标准难以统一、各国收益存在差异以及可能会导致全球消费者的福利损失和财富再分配,外部挑战则是其与《联合国气候变化框架公约》的基本原则、国际贸易规则、全球可持续发展目标相矛盾.最后,本文基于中国的一贯立场和原则提出,中国应积极稳妥推进"双碳"工作,把自身的碳排放问题解决好,同时要坚持用发展的办法解决发展中的问题,从容应对气候俱乐部可能带来的挑战.

应对气候变化将引发全球发展观念、发展模式、发展路径和社会文明形态的根本性变革,并在很大程度上重塑世界政治、经济和科技竞争格局.随着全球气候治理赤字的进一步扩大,全球气候治理呈现出一些新变局:气候变化与地缘政治相互渗透、互相嵌入,形成了动态的互动格局;发达国家将气候政策和国际贸易政策进行融合,气候政策的武器化趋势明显;发达国家和发展中国家的利益诉求分野扩大,国际气候政治博弈的南北阵营化趋势再一次加剧;全球气候治理的多主体、多层级趋势进一步凸显,深刻影响了全球气候治理的价值取向.应对气候变化是我国可持续发展的内在要求,是推动构建人类命运共同体的责任担当,中国需要根据全球气候治理的新变局做出战略选择.

The implementation of market-based climate policies represented by the emission trading system (ETS) is an important path for countries to participate in global climate governance and achieve the goals of carbon emission peaking and carbon neutrality. Whether the covered firms can improve financial performance through bearing responsibility for cutting emissions, a “win-win” of environmental and economic achievement, is an important way to evaluate the effectiveness of ETS. Based on the Chinese A-share listed firms in industrial sector during the period of 2010–2017, this paper employs PSM-DID method to investigate the impact of China's pilot ETS on financial performance of the covered firms. The results show that the covered firm's financial performance is improved by the implementation of pilot ETS, which can increase firm's ROA by 0.01 unit. Specifically, the pilot ETS can significantly improve the financial performance of non-state-owned firms, without affecting state-owned firms. Similarly, the financial performance improvement is more significant for firms in non-energy industries. Furthermore, the pilot ETS can motivate the covered firms to gain financial profit through cutting carbon emission as a mediation path, and the mediation effect size of carbon emission intensity is 0.001. Besides, firm's innovation ability weakens this mediation path, and the well-developed institutions in pilot area, proxied by high degree of marketization, only weaken the first part of the path, namely, carbon emission reduction led by ETS.

China has implemented many supportive policies to help the resource-based cities transit to sustainable development. However, these policies may induce unexpected results to institutional quality, which is an important factor to influence sustainable development. This paper examines how the policy affect the institutional quality of the resource-based cities, by building an institutional quality evaluation system which covering innovation environment, human resources, market environment and using Chinese “Sustainable Development Plan of Resource-based Cities (SDPRC)” as a quasi-experiment. The results show that the SDPRC has a significant negative effect on the overall level of institutional quality. Particularly, the policy implementation has significantly reduced the scores of institutional quality sub-items such as public service and human resources. Heterogenous analysis finds that the negative effect to institutional quality is significant in resource-depleted cities and coal cities. The policy implications of this paper are that government needs to emphasize the policy objective bias problem in the process of supporting resource-based cities and focus more on the institutional quality of resource-depleted cities and coal cities.

Financial innovation plays a crucial role in driving green innovation. Using patent data of 20 manufacturing industries and financial innovation data in 23 OECD countries from 1994 to 2009, this paper studies the impacts of financial innovation on green innovation from mechanism and empirical analysis. Our results show that financial innovation can significantly promote green innovation in industries that are more high-tech intensive. Using the mediation effect model, we find that the impact of financial innovation on industries’ green innovation is achieved by improving financial intermediaries’ ability to screen information. Then we find that although financial innovation has no obvious impact on the proportion of green innovation, it shows promotion effect in countries with stricter environmental regulations and lower degree of banking competition, as well as in industries with higher energy-intensity. Moreover, our study reveals that the promotion effect of financial innovation on green innovation is more significant among alternative energy innovation.