ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Environ. Sci.
Sec. Environmental Economics and Management
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fenvs.2025.1616667
This article is part of the Research TopicA Strategic Nexus for Enhancing System Resilience: Advancing Energy Efficiency, Reducing Carbon Emissions, Managing Water Resources, and Controlling Air Pollution in the Industrial SectorView all 7 articles
Can green technology innovation empower urban carbon mission reduction？ Evidence from China
Provisionally accepted
Su Li1,2
Xin Cao1*- 1School of Economics, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, China
- 2Common Modernization Research Center, Key Research Base of Humanities and Social Sciences of the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, Yinchuan, China
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Investigating the relationship between green technology innovation (GTI) and urban carbon emission (CEI) is crucial for sustainable economic development and achieving the dual carbon goal.Methods: Using panel data from 272 cities in China between 2006 and 2022, this paper empirically analyzes the impact of GTI on urban CEI by applying the fixed effects and chain mediation models. Furthermore, the chain mediating effect of environmental regulations and energy consumption structure is explored.Results: GTI significantly reduces urban CEI, particularly in the eastern region, non-resource-based, and large-scale cities, where its carbon reduction effect is more pronounced.The mechanism analysis reveals that environmental regulations and energy consumption structure not only play an independent mediating role, but also exert a chain mediation effect.Discussion: These findings enhance our understanding of the intrinsic mechanisms underlying green technology innovation-driven carbon emission reduction in China. Besides, they offer theoretical insights for policy formulation, demonstrating a pivotal role in environmental governance and sustainable development.
Keywords: Green technology innovation, carbon emissions, Energy consumption structure, environmental regulation, chain mediation effect
Received: 23 Apr 2025; Accepted: 29 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li and Cao. 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: Xin Cao, School of Economics, North Minzu University, Yinchuan, China
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