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The Urban Renewable Energy Transition: Impact Assessment and Transmission Mechanisms of Climate Policy Uncertainty

Author

Listed:
  • Da Gao

    (School of Law and Business, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China)

  • Tianyi Zhang

    (School of Law and Business, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China)

  • Xiaowei Liu

    (School of Law and Business, Wuhan Institute of Technology, Wuhan 430205, China)

Abstract

The transition to renewable energy is a critical pathway for achieving low-carbon development and addressing global climate change problems. Therefore, we expand the conventional province-level energy balance table to the urban level, providing a refined assessment tool for evaluating renewable energy transition (RET). This study investigates the impact of climate policy uncertainty (CPU) on urban RET and explores the underlying mechanisms. The findings reveal that CPU significantly inhibits urban RET, with this effect being particularly pronounced in non-capital and inland cities. The mechanisms through which CPU hinders urban RET include exacerbating capital and labor misallocation and suppressing industrial structure upgrading. Furthermore, the moderation model indicates that high-intensity government supervision and low public environmental awareness exacerbate the negative impact of CPU on urban RET. Our findings provide governments with adopting forward-looking climate policies to mitigate the adverse effects of urban renewable energy transition.

Suggested Citation

  • Da Gao & Tianyi Zhang & Xiaowei Liu, 2025. "The Urban Renewable Energy Transition: Impact Assessment and Transmission Mechanisms of Climate Policy Uncertainty," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-18, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jeners:v:18:y:2025:i:8:p:2089-:d:1637377
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Yan Huang & Yang Feng & Da Gao & Jiawen Wei & Kai Wu, 2025. "The Power of Knowledge: How Can Educational Competitiveness Improve Urban Energy Efficiency?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(14), pages 1-20, July.
    2. Zhou, Xijin & Lin, Deqin, 2025. "Impact of the environmental protection law on corporate biodiversity risk attention - An empirical analysis based on data of Chinese listed companies," Finance Research Letters, Elsevier, vol. 86(PE).
    3. Jiacheng Zou & Kun Hou & Xia Xu & Zhen Wang, 2025. "Evaluation on the Rationality of Spatial Layout of Social Facilities in Inland Coastal Cross-River Cities Based on POI Data: A Case Study of Nanjing, China," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(17), pages 1-25, August.
    4. Da Gao & Qingshuo Wang & Qingjiang Han, 2025. "How Does Critical Peak Pricing Boost Urban Green Total Factor Energy Efficiency? Evidence from a Double Machine Learning Model," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(18), pages 1-21, September.
    5. Wei, Wenwan & Yang, Sini, 2025. "Study on the factors and paths of optimizing and upgrading the regional industrial structure: A hybrid analysis based on extended NCA and fsQCA," Economic Analysis and Policy, Elsevier, vol. 87(C), pages 2083-2102.
    6. Shuying Chen & Da Gao & Linfang Tan, 2025. "Green Finance Reform: How to Drive a Leap in the Quality of Green Innovation in Enterprises?," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(15), pages 1-27, August.
    7. Mateusz Ciski & Krzysztof Rząsa, 2025. "The Environmental Dimension of Sustainable Development in Relation to the Transition from Brown to Green Energy—A Case Study of Poland from 2005 to 2023," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(11), pages 1-28, June.

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