CO 2 Emissions, Energy Consumption, and Economic Growth Nexus: Evidence from 30 Provinces in China

Under the situation of global low-carbon development, the contradiction among energy consumption, economic growth, and CO 2 emissions is increasingly prominent. Considering the possible two-way feedback among the three, based on the panel data of 30 regions in China from 2000 to 2017, this paper establishes a spatial Durbin model including economic growth, energy consumption equation, and CO 2 emissions and studies the dynamic relationship and spatial spillover among economic growth, energy consumption, and CO 2 emissions effects. The results show that the economic growth can significantly improve carbon dioxide emissions, and China ’ s economic growth level has become a positive driving force for carbon dioxide emissions. However, economic growth will not be significantly affected by the reduction of carbon dioxide emissions. There is a two-way relationship between energy consumption (ENC) and carbon dioxide emissions (CO 2 ). Energy consumption and carbon emissions are interrelated, which has a negative spatial spillover effect on the carbon dioxide emissions of the surrounding provinces and cities.