Study on the Dual Targets of CO₂ Emissions Reductions in China: Decoupling Analysis and Driving Forces

ABSTRACT

Reducing CO₂ emissions is critical to sustainable economic development in China. In this article, we try to assess the implementation of dual controls policy on CO₂ emissions within a unified analysis framework by matching the dual controls of CO₂ emissions (total volume control and intensity control) at the practical level to the decoupling model (strong decoupling and weak decoupling) at the theoretical level. Then, the ST-LMDI method is used to explore the changes of the CO₂ intensity and its driving factors within 4 “five-year plan”. The results indicate that: the dual controls mechanism on China’s CO₂ emissions is gradually working up, with the decoupling index between CO₂ emissions and the economic growth presenting an inverted U-shaped tendency. Besides, most provinces are narrowing the gap from the CO₂ intensity control targets in 2020, with the energy intensity declining and the energy structure fluctuating.

KEY WORDS:

• CO₂ emissions
• decoupling
• dual targets
• ST-LMDI

Acknowledgments

Financial supports from the Natural Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 71774122, 71874064 and 71503094), the Major Program of the National Social Science Foundation of China (Grants No. 16ZDA006, 16ZDA039, and 17ZDA036) and the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (Grant No. 2662018PY049) are greatly acknowledged.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities [2662018PY049];Natural Science Foundation of China [71774122, 71874064 and 71503094];Major Program of the National Social Science Foundation of China [16ZDA006, 16ZDA039, and 17ZDA036].