The impacts of casual environmental regulation on carbon intensity in China: Dual mediating pathways of energy low-carbon reconstitution and industrial structure upgrading

In the new era of global net zero, how to reduce carbon intensity became a hot topic, while few attentions had been paid to the impacts of casual environmental regulation, especially in the emerging economy such as China. In this regard, this study uses the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2003 to 2019 to study the impacts of causal environmental regulation on the carbon intensity, with the adoption of multiple econometric models. The empirical results show that causal environmental regulation has a significant inhibitory effect on carbon intensity, while at current stage, causal environmental regulation cannot inhibit carbon intensity through the mediating of green innovation and renewable energy production. Fortunately, energy low-carbon reconstitution and industrial structure upgrading are proved to effectively act as the intermediary channels. In addition, the spatial spillover effects and the spatial heterogeneity are supported in the empirical analysis. In a summary, this study starts with the case of China to provide a realistic reference case for the international community, enriches the theory, policy and practice related to environmental regulation, and provides a realistic reference example for emerging economics in a developing country.