IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v15y2023i8p7000-d1129627.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

China’s Pathway to a Low Carbon Economy: Exploring the Influence of Urbanization on Environmental Sustainability in the Digital Era

Author

Listed:
  • Yan Lv

    (School of Economics and Management, Hubei University of Education, Wuhan 430204, China)

  • Weisong Li

    (School of Innovation and Entrepreneurship, Hubei University of Economics, Wuhan 430205, China
    Collaborative Innovation Center for Emissions Trading System Co-Constructed by the Province and Ministry, Wuhan 430205, China)

  • Yawen Xu

    (Experimental Teaching Centre, Hubei University of Economics, Wuhan 430205, China)

  • Muhammad Tayyab Sohail

    (Muhammad Tayyab Sohail, School of Public Administration, Xiangtan University, Xiangtan 411105, China)

Abstract

To protect the environment from any further damage, the implementation of the “smart cities” strategy supported by information and communication technologies (ICTs) is the need of the hour. Hence, this study estimates the impact of ICT and urbanization on environmental sustainability in China using the novel quantile autoregressive distributed lag (QARDL) method. The results of the QARDL model state the negative and significant impact of ICT on CO 2 emissions in China for all quantiles, implying that an increase in ICT proved to be an important factor in improving environmental quality. In contrast, the estimated coefficients of urbanization are positively significant for all quantiles. This finding sustains the idea that large-scale urbanization is detrimental to the environment because the process of urbanization is among the leading sources of carbon emissions. In the short run, the negative impact of ICT on CO 2 emissions can only be seen in higher quantiles, while the positive impact of urbanization on CO 2 emissions is confirmed for all quantiles. Lastly, the asymmetric impact of ICT and urbanization is confirmed in the short and long run with the help of Wald tests. The ICT diffusion and smart urbanization approach can help in attaining environmental sustainability targets.

Suggested Citation

  • Yan Lv & Weisong Li & Yawen Xu & Muhammad Tayyab Sohail, 2023. "China’s Pathway to a Low Carbon Economy: Exploring the Influence of Urbanization on Environmental Sustainability in the Digital Era," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(8), pages 1-14, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:8:p:7000-:d:1129627
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/8/7000/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/15/8/7000/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cho, Jin Seo & Kim, Tae-hwan & Shin, Yongcheol, 2015. "Quantile cointegration in the autoregressive distributed-lag modeling framework," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 188(1), pages 281-300.
    2. Asongu, Simplice A. & Le Roux, Sara & Biekpe, Nicholas, 2018. "Enhancing ICT for environmental sustainability in sub-Saharan Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 127(C), pages 209-216.
    3. Douglas Gollin & Remi Jedwab & Dietrich Vollrath, 2016. "Urbanization with and without industrialization," Journal of Economic Growth, Springer, vol. 21(1), pages 35-70, March.
    4. Sufyanullah, Khan & Ahmad, Khan Arshad & Sufyan Ali, Muhammad Abu, 2022. "Does emission of carbon dioxide is impacted by urbanization? An empirical study of urbanization, energy consumption, economic growth and carbon emissions - Using ARDL bound testing approach," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    5. Recep Ulucak & Danish & Salah Ud‐Din Khan, 2020. "Does information and communication technology affect CO2 mitigation under the pathway of sustainable development during the mode of globalization?," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 28(4), pages 857-867, July.
    6. Ramelli, Stefano & Ossola, Elisa & Rancan, Michela, 2021. "Stock price effects of climate activism: Evidence from the first Global Climate Strike," Journal of Corporate Finance, Elsevier, vol. 69(C).
    7. Awan, Ashar & Abbasi, Kashif Raza & Rej, Soumen & Bandyopadhyay, Arunava & Lv, Kangjuan, 2022. "The impact of renewable energy, internet use and foreign direct investment on carbon dioxide emissions: A method of moments quantile analysis," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 189(C), pages 454-466.
    8. Ben Lahouel, Béchir & Taleb, Lotfi & Ben Zaied, Younes & Managi, Shunsuke, 2021. "Does ICT change the relationship between total factor productivity and CO2 emissions? Evidence based on a nonlinear model," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C).
    9. Sadorsky, Perry, 2014. "The effect of urbanization on CO2 emissions in emerging economies," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 41(C), pages 147-153.
    10. Ma, Ben, 2015. "Does urbanization affect energy intensities across provinces in China?Long-run elasticities estimation using dynamic panels with heterogeneous slopes," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 390-401.
    11. Usman, Ahmed & Ozturk, Ilhan & Ullah, Sana & Hassan, Ali, 2021. "Does ICT have symmetric or asymmetric effects on CO2 emissions? Evidence from selected Asian economies," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 67(C).
    12. Wang Lei & Ilhan Ozturk & Hafeez Muhammad & Sana Ullah, 2022. "On the asymmetric effects of financial deepening on renewable and non-renewable energy consumption: insights from China," Economic Research-Ekonomska Istraživanja, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 35(1), pages 3961-3978, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Charfeddine, Lanouar & Umlai, Mohamed, 2023. "ICT sector, digitization and environmental sustainability: A systematic review of the literature from 2000 to 2022," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 184(C).
    2. Asif Khan & Wu Ximei, 2022. "Digital Economy and Environmental Sustainability: Do Information Communication and Technology (ICT) and Economic Complexity Matter?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(19), pages 1-21, September.
    3. Zhao, Xue & Huang, Lu, 2022. "Understanding the dynamic role of natural resources, green technology, economic integration and social globalization towards sustainable environment in China," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 79(C).
    4. Zafar, Muhammad Wasif & Zaidi, Syed Anees Haider & Mansoor, Sadia & Sinha, Avik & Qin, Quande, 2022. "ICT and education as determinants of environmental quality: The role of financial development in selected Asian countries," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    5. Alataş, Sedat, 2022. "Do environmental technologies help to reduce transport sector CO2 emissions? Evidence from the EU15 countries," Research in Transportation Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    6. Davide Quaglione & Dario D’Ingiullo & Linda Meleo, 2023. "Fixed and mobile broadband penetration and CO2 emissions: evidence from OECD countries," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 40(3), pages 795-816, October.
    7. Shiping Xu & Lili Wang, 2023. "Do Green Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) and Smart Urbanization Reduce Environmental Pollution in China?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(19), pages 1-18, October.
    8. Shunbin Zhong & Huafu Shen & Ziheng Niu & Yang Yu & Lin Pan & Yaojun Fan & Atif Jahanger, 2022. "Moving towards Environmental Sustainability: Can Digital Economy Reduce Environmental Degradation in China?," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(23), pages 1-23, November.
    9. Sun, Xianming & Xiao, Shiyi & Ren, Xiaohang & Xu, Bing, 2023. "Time-varying impact of information and communication technology on carbon emissions," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 118(C).
    10. Qiao, Hui & Chen, Siyu & Dong, Xiucheng & Dong, Kangyin, 2019. "Has China's coal consumption actually reached its peak? National and regional analysis considering cross-sectional dependence and heterogeneity," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 84(C).
    11. Yan-Qing Kang & Tao Zhao & Peng Wu, 2016. "Impacts of energy-related CO 2 emissions in China: a spatial panel data technique," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(1), pages 405-421, March.
    12. Geng Peng & Yixuan Tang & Kaiyou Tian, 2023. "Understanding the Nonlinear Impact of Information and Communication Technology on Carbon Emissions in the Logistics Industry of China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-22, September.
    13. Che, Shuai & Wang, Jun & Chen, Honghang, 2023. "Can China's decentralized energy governance reduce carbon emissions? Evidence from new energy demonstration cities," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 284(C).
    14. Hussain Ali Bekhet & Nor Salwati Othman & Tahira Yasmin, 2020. "Interaction Between Environmental Kuznet Curve and Urban Environment Transition Hypotheses in Malaysia," International Journal of Energy Economics and Policy, Econjournals, vol. 10(1), pages 384-402.
    15. Feilan Wang & Mengmeng Jin & Jianfeng Li & Yushuo Zhang & Junbo Chen, 2022. "Profound Impact of Economic Openness and Digital Economy towards a Sustainable Development: A New Look at RCEP Economies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(21), pages 1-21, October.
    16. Bai, Ling & Guo, Tianran & Xu, Wei & Liu, Yaobin & Kuang, Ming & Jiang, Lei, 2023. "Effects of digital economy on carbon emission intensity in Chinese cities: A life-cycle theory and the application of non-linear spatial panel smooth transition threshold model," Energy Policy, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    17. Nchofoung, Tii N. & Asongu, Simplice A., 2022. "ICT for sustainable development: Global comparative evidence of globalisation thresholds," Telecommunications Policy, Elsevier, vol. 46(5).
    18. Awa Traoré & Cheikh T. Ndour & Simplice A. Asongu, 2023. "Promoting Environmental Sustainability in Africa: Evidence from Governance Synergy," Working Papers of the African Governance and Development Institute. 23/002, African Governance and Development Institute..
    19. Yan-Qing Kang & Tao Zhao & Peng Wu, 2016. "Impacts of energy-related CO2 emissions in China: a spatial panel data technique," Natural Hazards: Journal of the International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, Springer;International Society for the Prevention and Mitigation of Natural Hazards, vol. 81(1), pages 405-421, March.
    20. Wang, Jen Chun, 2022. "Understanding the energy consumption of information and communications equipment: A case study of schools in Taiwan," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 249(C).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:15:y:2023:i:8:p:7000-:d:1129627. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.