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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
Volume 12 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2024.1403246

The Impact of Green Finance on Carbon Emission Intensity in China: Mediating and Spatial Effects

Provisionally accepted
Xiaonan Liu Xiaonan Liu 1Liu Xiaonan Liu Xiaonan 1*Jinglei Lu Jinglei Lu 1Bin Zhou Bin Zhou 2
  • 1 Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China
  • 2 jiangxi chinese media blue ocean international investment Co.,Ltd.,Jiangxxi, Nanchang, China

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Investigating the relationship between green finance and carbon emission intensity is essential for understanding its role in China's carbon reduction strategy. This study employs the entropy weight method to measure the green finance development index across 30 Chinese provinces. Using double fixed-effects, mediation effect, and Spatial Durbin Models (SDM), the analysis reveals three key findings: Firstly, green finance directly reduces carbon emission intensity and indirectly does so by fostering technological innovation and optimizing energy structures, with more pronounced effects in western regions, highlighting regional disparities. Secondly, green finance shows a significant spatial spillover effect, reducing carbon emission intensity in neighboring provinces, beyond the impact on economically and geographically similar regions. Lastly, environmental regulation intensity positively influences carbon emission intensity in all models. These findings deepen our understanding of green finance's role in China's carbon reduction efforts and provide strong theoretical support for policy formulation, demonstrating its critical role in environmental governance and sustainable development.

    Keywords: green finance, Carbon emission intensity, technological innovation, Environmental regulation intensity, spatial spillover effect JEL: Q58, C52, G23, R11

    Received: 20 Mar 2024; Accepted: 01 Aug 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Liu, Xiaonan, Lu and Zhou. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Liu Xiaonan, Jiangxi Normal University, Nanchang, China

    Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.