ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Policy and Governance
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1528983
This article is part of the Research TopicClimate Risk and Green and Low-Carbon Transformation: Economic Impact and Policy ResponseView all 28 articles
Has carbon finance been able to promote clean energy development? -A low-carbon technology innovation perspective
Provisionally accepted
- 1Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou, China
- 2Macau University of Science and Technology, Taipa, Macao, Macao, SAR China
- 3Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing, Jiangsu Province, China
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In recent years, with the increasing attention to global warming, low-carbon development has become a global requirement, which has attracted widespread attention from scholars and policy makers around the world. Therefore, this study explores the evolution of spatiotemporal dynamics and heterogeneity of the impact of carbon finance on clean energy development using spatial econometric modelling based on panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2010-2023, and also further explores the role of low-carbon technological innovations in this promotion process. It is found that carbon finance significantly promotes clean energy development, but this contribution decreases with the intervention of low-carbon technology innovation. Secondly, when considering government intervention and marketdriven conditions, both amplify the positive impact of carbon finance on the development of clean energy, and the impact of carbon finance varies in different regions. Finally, considering the existence of spatial and regional heterogeneity, carbon finance has the largest impact among the eastern regions, the lowest among the central regions, and the second largest among the western regions. These facts indicate how carbon finance can be an effective means to support the development of clean energy in China. Therefore, in promoting the deep convergence of both carbon finance and clean energy, this study provides theoretical support for rising emerging developing economies such as China.
Keywords: Carbon finance, Clean energy development, Low-carbon technology innovation, Spatial econometric model, Mediated effect
Received: 15 Nov 2024; Accepted: 04 Jul 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Cui, Hao, Jiang, Zhang and Lv. 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: Yuanyuan Hao, Jiangsu University of Technology, Changzhou, China
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