Analysis of the spillover effect between CO2 and other pollutants in China

• Main Authors: Ahmad, B. (Author), Ji, S. (Author), Lv, W. (Author), Wang, S. (Author), Wang, Y. (Author), Xu, Y. (Author), Zhang, W. (Author)
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier B.V. 2021
• Subjects: Carbon dioxide; carbon emission; China; CO > 2 > emission; CO2 emission; Control policy; emission control; Emission control; Emission reduction; Emission spillover; Emissions reduction; Emissions spillovers; environmental policy; environmental quality; Environmental quality; environmental risk; greenhouse gas; Greenhouse gases; Indicator indicator; integrated approach; Policy engineering; Pollutant discharge fee; Pollutant discharges; Pollutants emission; Pollutants emissions; Quality control; spillover effect; Spillover effects; sustainability; Sustainable development
• Online Access: View Fulltext in Publisher

 Environmental quality is strongly coupling with the result of emissions reduction in most countries, while emissions reduction is influenced by the diversity of control policies, engineering facilities and development patterns. Further, local in which technical or policy that concern the control of target emissions will impact other pollutants emission. In China, the emissions of both CO2 and other pollutants increased substantially during the past decades. With the development of emissions reduction, it promoted a considerable risk of emissions spillovers caused by the present mechanism. In this study, we assessed the contributions of emissions spillovers to emission reductions by applying a more comprehensive indicator of pollutants, pollutant discharge fee (PDF), at the national, regional and provincial levels. The results shown positive and significant mutual effect between the PDF and CO2 emissions. That is, CO2 emission is significantly related with the process of other pollutants emissions reduction. Additionally, the positive correlation indicated further increases with the Five-Year Plan (FYP) cycle. Emissions spillovers have become an urgent risk for China. With the performance change, emissions reduction and environmental governance should heighten integration. Regional-level and provincial authorities must reconsider the matched emissions sustainability responsibilities and policies to avoid emissions spillovers and achieve meaningful emission controls. The study therefore suggested that a hierarchy of emission reductions, in the hope to promote emission reductions, improve environmental quality and contribute greenhouse gas reductions. © 2021 The Authors