Moving towards Environmental Sustainability: Can Digital Economy Reduce Environmental Degradation in China?

In the context of environmental sustainability and accelerated digital technology development, China attaches great importance to the prominent role of digital economy in addressing environmental degradation. Utilizing Chinese provincial panel data from 2011 to 2019, this study investigates whether the digital economy can improve China's environmental sustainability proxy by reducing carbon emission intensity. Based on the fixed effects model, the findings reveal that the digital economy has a significant negative effect on carbon emission intensity and the conclusion remains robust after conducting several robustness checks. However, this impact shows regional heterogeneity, which is more effective in resource-based eastern regions and the Belt and Road provinces. Moreover, mediating effect analyses indicate that the transmission mechanisms are energy consumption structure, total factor energy productivity, and green technology innovation. Furthermore, the results based on the spatial Durbin model (SDM) demonstrate that digital economy development has a significant spatial spillover effect. Finally, on the basis of results analysis and discussion, policy recommendations are provided for achieving environmental sustainability.

Effects of land urbanization and internet penetration on environmental sustainability: a cross-regional study of China.

China has pledged to peak its carbon dioxide emissions (CEM) before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060. The energy consumption related to land urbanization (LURB) and internet penetration (INT) may have a significant impact on CEM. It is critical for China to obtain a better understanding of the interaction among them in order to tackle challenges of climate change in the digital era. Initially, the multivariate panel bootstrap Granger causality test is conducted to estimate the causal effects of LURB and INT on CEM in China. The results reveal that the interaction patterns among them varied across different provinces, and particularly LURB and INT are two determinants of CEM mainly in Eastern China, which is consistent with the stochastic differential model. Then, CEM is not a Granger-cause of LURB and INT in the majority of Chinese provinces, as LURB and INT largely depend on government policies and industrial development. In addition, there are no significant interactions between LURB and CEM in over two-thirds of the provinces and there are also none between INT and CEM in over half of the Chinese provinces. Therefore, Chinese policymakers should further adopt differentiated and efficient policies targeting the weak links and achieve environmental sustainability through low carbon transition.