The Impact of Environmental Regulations on Pollution and Carbon Reduction in the Yellow River Basin, China

Abstract

Based on data from 69 cities in the Yellow River Basin from 2006–2018, this paper examines the impact of environmental regulations on the integrated management of air pollution and CO2 emissions and its mechanism of action using a two-way stationary model. The results found that: (1) The impact of environmental regulations on air pollution and CO2 emissions in the Yellow River Basin has an inverted U-shaped trend, the intensity of regulation is still on the left side of the inverted U-shaped curve, and the inflection point has not yet appeared. (2) Environmental regulations suppressed air pollution and CO2 emissions by adjusting industrial structure, promoting technological innovation, and improving energy efficiency, but the current intensity of regulation is not sufficient to make the three paths fully effective. (3) The pollution and carbon reduction effects of environmental regulations are more significant in areas with higher marketization and resource dependence, national urban agglomerations, and the middle reaches of the Yellow River Basin. However, environmental regulations in other regions only show significant pollution reduction effects, and there is still more room for improving carbon reduction governance. Therefore, the Yellow River Basin should strengthen environmental regulations to promote ecological governance and high-quality development.