The Effect of Agriculture Insurance on Agricultural Carbon Emissions in China: The Mediation Role of Low-Carbon Technology Innovation

Abstract

Global greenhouse gas emissions are increasing, with carbon dioxide being the most prominent. It is urgent to address and resolve the carbon emissions problem. This study investigates the mediating mechanism of agricultural insurance and low-carbon technology innovation on agricultural carbon emissions. We employed a two-way fixed effect panel model with data from 30 provinces in China from 2001–2019 to validate our hypotheses. The results demonstrate that (1) agricultural insurance can play an effective role in reducing agricultural carbon emissions, and (2) an indirect effect of agricultural insurance development on agricultural carbon emissions through low-carbon technology innovation exists. These results indicate that agricultural insurance could suppress agricultural carbon emissions indirectly through low-carbon technology innovation, thus preventing the acceleration of the greenhouse effect. This study further analyzed regional differences and discovered that the suppression effect of agricultural insurance on agricultural carbon emissions is more significant in the eastern regions and non-main grain-producing areas of China. Therefore, the analysis implies that promoting the development of agricultural insurance to encourage low-carbon technology innovation is crucial to accelerate the process of “carbon peak and neutrality”, especially for the eastern regions and non-main grain-producing areas of China.