Blue Sky Protection Campaign: Assessing the Role of Digital Technology in Reducing Air Pollution

Abstract

Air pollution severely threatens people’s health and sustainable economic development. In the era of the digital economy, modern information technology is profoundly changing the way governments govern, the production mode of enterprises, and the living behavior of residents. Whether digital technology can bring ecological welfare needs to be further studied. Based on panel data from 269 Chinese cities from 2006 to 2021, this study empirically examines the impact of digital technology on air pollution by using the two-way fixed effect model. The results show that digital technology will significantly reduce the concentration of fine particles in the air and help protect the atmospheric environment. The results are still valid after using the interactive fixed effect model and the two-stage least square method after the robustness test and causality identification. Digital technology can also reduce the air pollution by promoting green innovation, improving energy efficiency, and easing market segmentation. The effect of digital technology on reducing the concentration of fine particles in the air is heterogeneous. Digital technology plays a more substantial role in reducing pollution in resource-based cities and areas with a high degree of modernization of the commodity supply chain. The positive effect of digital technology in reducing air pollution is affected by the amount of air pollutants emitted. When the concentration of PM2.5 in the air is high, the role of digital technology in protecting the atmosphere will be strongly highlighted. This research is a beneficial exploration of protecting the atmospheric environment by using digital technology while building an ecological civilization society. The conclusion will help urban managers, the public, and business operators entirely use modern equipment such as 5G, remote sensing, and the Internet of Things in their respective fields to protect the atmospheric environment.