Export of Environment Goods from China, Importing Countries’ Energy Mix, and Carbon Emission Intensity

Abstract

Facing the rising global temperature, China, the largest annual carbon emitter, is constantly fulfilling its obligations and acting to inject Chinese impetus into global climate action. Under this background, this paper uses an IV-TSLS regression model to empirically explore the impact of China’s Environment Goods Export (CEGE) on the Carbon Emission Intensity of Importing Countries (CEIIC), including a sample of 187 countries, covering the period from 2012 to 2020. We find that the CEGE can reduce the CEIIC by changing the energy mix of importing countries. All five categories of environment goods classified by their protection functions can significantly reduce the CEIIC. Among them, the goods used for the disposal and recycling of waste and pollutants, emission monitoring, and renewable energy projects have the most powerful inhibition effect. The inhibition effect of the CEGE on the Carbon Emission Intensity (CEI) in South America is the greatest, followed by Africa, Oceania, and Asia, while this effect is insignificant in European and North American countries. The CEGE has a stronger inhibition effect on the CEI of non-APEC countries than APEC countries. The CEGE has a far greater inhibition effect on the CEI of six economic corridor countries than the other countries.