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A special issue of International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health (ISSN 1660-4601). This special issue belongs to the section "Climate Change".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (15 July 2023) | Viewed by 19217

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Dr. Bo Li

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Guest Editor

School of Management, Tianjin University of Technology, Tianjin 300384, China
Interests: resources policy; environmental economics; urban sustainable development; regional economics; sustainable development of resources-based cities
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Prof. Dr. Wei Sun

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Guest Editor

Key Laboratory of Regional Sustainable Development Modeling, Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China
Interests: sustainable development; sustainability; resources regional development; spatial autocorrelation; energy policy; energy; urban geography

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change has been discussed as one the most urgent global challenges faced by human society for a certain period of time. Rapid Urbanization and high dependence on fossil energy, two fundamental drivers of technological, social, and economic development globally, have been viewed as two key influencing factors to global climate change, hindering global sustainable development and causing serious problems. Therefore, the relationship between economic development & global climate change, along with the related health, social & economic consequences of climate change, needs to be further identified in the perspective and process of global urbanization, which is exceptionally important for the development of mining towns, resources-based cities, and other resource-dependent regions. Furthermore, a considerable number of measures and policies have been formulated in the process of global climate governance, especially in emerging economies, so it is of equal importance to objectively and correctly evaluate and assess the existing measures and policies in order to ensure the effectiveness of these existing efforts & attempts, sort out more efficient &practical solutions, and help explore possible & sustainable development paths globally.

Dr. Bo Li
Prof. Dr. Wei Sun
Guest Editors

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Keywords

climate change
environmental economics
sustainable development
urban development
health, social and economic consequences of climate change
resources-based cities
resource-dependent regions
mining town
policy assessment
emerging economies

Published Papers (12 papers)

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Research

15 pages, 6690 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Compound Heat Vulnerability in the Record-Breaking Hot Summer of 2022 over the Yangtze River Delta Region

by Shaojing Jiang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(8), 5539; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20085539 - 17 Apr 2023

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1150

Abstract

Hourly meteorological data and multisource socioeconomic data collected in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) region were used to analyze its heat vulnerability during the record-breaking hot summer of 2022 in both daytime and nighttime. Over forty consecutive days, daytime temperatures exceeded 40 °C, and 58.4% of the YRD region experienced 400 h with temperatures hotter than 26 °C during the nighttime. Only 7.5% of the YRD region was under low heat risk during both daytime and nighttime. Strong heat risk combined with strong heat sensitivity and weak heat adaptability led to strong heat vulnerability during both daytime and nighttime in most areas (72.6%). Inhomogeneity in heat sensitivity and heat adaptability further aggravated the heterogeneity of heat vulnerability, leading to compound heat vulnerability in most regions. The ratios of heat-vulnerable areas generated by multiple causes were 67.7% and 79.3% during daytime and nighttime, respectively. For Zhejiang and Shanghai, projects designed to decrease the urban heat island effect and lower the local heat sensitivity are most important. For Jiangsu and Anhui, measures aiming to decrease the urban heat island effect and improve heat adaptability are most important. It is urgent to take efficient measures to address heat vulnerability during both daytime and nighttime. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

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16 pages, 3638 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Construction and Simulation of High-Quality Development of China’s Resource-Based Cities Driven by Innovation Based on System Dynamics

by Shuai Liu, Guoxin Jiang, Le Chang and Chao Huang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(6), 4812; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20064812 - 9 Mar 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 981

Abstract

Innovation is the primary driving force for development; the high-quality development of resource-based cities is ultimately driven by innovation. We constructed an innovation-driven high-quality development system for resource-based cities, including resource, economic, social, and environmental subsystems; according to the interaction between the internal elements of each subsystem, a dynamic model of the innovation-driven high-quality development system of resource-based cities was established, and we selected policy adjustment variables to simulate six policy scenarios. Thus, we simulated high-quality development trends from 2008 to 2035. The results indicate that the policy scenario of increasing innovation investment can promote high-quality development; the policy of increasing innovation investment has a significant effect on economic growth, while it damages the urban ecological environment, and the ideal policy scenario is the environmental priority mode, which appropriately increases innovation investment and reasonably allocates it within the system. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

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21 pages, 960 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Calculation and Allocation of Atmospheric Environment Governance Cost in the Yangtze River Economic Belt of China

by Jiekun Song, Zhicheng Liu, Rui Chen and Xueli Leng

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(5), 4281; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20054281 - 28 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 994

Abstract

Atmospheric environment governance requires necessary cost input. Only by accurately calculating regional atmospheric environment governance cost and scientifically allocating it within a region can the operability and realization of the coordinated governance of the regional environment be ensured. Firstly, based on the consideration of avoiding the technological regression of decision-making units, this paper constructs a sequential SBM-DEA efficiency measurement model and solves the shadow prices of various atmospheric environmental factors, that is, their unit governance costs. Secondly, combined with the emission reduction potential, the total regional atmospheric environment governance cost can be calculated. Thirdly, the Shapley value method is modified to calculate the contribution rate of each province to the whole region, and the equitable allocation scheme of the atmospheric environment governance cost is obtained. Finally, with the goal that the allocation scheme based on the fixed cost allocation DEA (FCA-DEA) model converges with the fair allocation scheme based on the modified Shapley value, a modified FCA-DEA model is constructed to achieve the efficiency and fairness of the allocation of atmospheric environment governance cost. The calculation and allocation of the atmospheric environmental governance cost in the Yangtze River Economic Belt in 2025 verify the feasibility and advantages of the models proposed in this paper. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

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25 pages, 1557 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Can Regional Integration Reduce Urban Carbon Emission? An Empirical Study Based on the Yangtze River Delta, China

by Dongsheng Yan and Pingxing Li

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(2), 1395; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20021395 - 12 Jan 2023

Cited by 5 | Viewed by 1494

Abstract

Regional integration can significantly affect carbon emissions, but scholars have paid more attention to the impact of integration level, ignoring the importance of regional integration expansion. This study attempts to demonstrate whether, in the process of promoting carbon peak and carbon neutrality in China, the transformation of the administrative region’s economy into an integrated economy based on urban agglomeration regional integration expansion affects urban carbon emissions. This study considers the regional integration expansion of the Yangtze River Delta Urban Economic Coordination Committee as a quasi-natural experiment, exploring the carbon emission reduction effect of regional integration with the difference-in-differences model. With the mediating and moderating effect models, this study examines the mechanism of regional integration affecting urban carbon emissions. The results show that regional integration, considering regional integration expansion, can significantly reduce urban carbon emissions. The carbon emission reduction effects of regional integration show significant heterogeneity. For example, there is a significant carbon emission reduction effect of high-hierarchy cities and an insignificant carbon emission reduction effect of general-hierarchy cities. Further research into the driving mechanism finds that deepening collaborative governance, industrial structure optimization, and green technology promotion brought about by regional integration are important mechanisms influencing urban carbon emissions. In addition, the carbon emission reduction effect of regional integration is influenced by the level of urban marketization and development efficiency. Different from the existing studies focusing on the effects of regional integration level, this study assesses the feasibility of promoting urban green development through urban agglomeration regional integration expansion. Based on the relevant empirical research, we propose to better promote high-quality development by strengthening urban agglomeration cooperation, optimizing urban development paths, strengthening innovative development, and improving macro political systems. It also indicates that the relevant policies should be formulated after considering local conditions. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

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20 pages, 893 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Can Expanding Cultural Consumption Improve Urban Air Quality? An Analysis Based on China’s Cultural Consumption Pilot Policy

by Bo Li, Jicong Yang and Wei Sun

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2023, 20(1), 642; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph20010642 - 30 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1312

Abstract

As an important reform exploration to promote economic transformation and upgrading in China, can the national cultural consumption pilot policy improve urban air quality? What are the impact paths? Based on a theoretical analysis of the intrinsic mechanism of expanding cultural consumption affecting urban air quality, this paper constructs the DID model with a quasi-natural experiment, namely the national cultural consumption pilot, to assess the impact of expanding cultural consumption on urban air quality. The results show that: expanding cultural consumption has a significant improvement effect on urban air quality, and the emission reduction effect is also increasing year by year; the heterogeneity analysis shows that expanding cultural consumption has a stronger pollution reduction effect in cities north of the Qinling–Huaihe line, and the effect on air quality is more significant in non-resource cities; the mechanism test indicates that government intervention and public participation have a significant moderating role in the emission reduction effect of cultural consumption. In other words, the higher the level of government intervention and the greater the degree of public participation in the cultural consumption pilot, the stronger the pollution reduction effect of expanding cultural consumption. In addition, cultural consumption has an impact on urban air quality mainly through the industrial structure effect and innovation effect. The findings of this study provide policy insights to further promote the emission reduction effect of cultural consumption and promote urban air quality. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

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17 pages, 405 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Environmental Regulation, Scientific and Technological Innovation, and Industrial Structure Upgrading in the Yellow River Basin, China

by Jianshi Wang, Yu Cheng and Chengxin Wang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(24), 16597; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192416597 - 10 Dec 2022

Cited by 7 | Viewed by 1319

Abstract

Industrial structure upgrading is an important prerequisite for achieving regional ecological environment protection and high-quality development, and environmental regulation can improve the capacity of scientific and technological innovation and promote industrial structure transformation and upgrading. Based on the panel data of 78 cities in the Yellow River Basin, the relationships among environmental regulation, scientific and technological innovation, and industrial structure upgrading in the Yellow River Basin were analyzed using the mediating effect model and the panel threshold model. The results showed the following findings: (1) Although both formal and informal environmental regulations can promote industrial structure upgrading in the Yellow River Basin, regional heterogeneity and temporal stage characteristics are observed. (2) Transmission mechanism test results show that formal and informal environmental regulations directly affect industrial structure upgrading and indirectly act on it through the level of scientific and technological innovation, showing a significant mediating effect. (3) Taking scientific and technological innovation as the threshold variable, formal environmental regulations have a corresponding relationship with industrial structure upgrading in the form of a broken line, and informal environmental regulations significantly promote industrial structure upgrading after scientific and technological innovation crosses a certain threshold. Finally, we discuss the article and make corresponding suggestions in terms of environmental regulation and technological innovation. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

20 pages, 3061 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Construction Land Expansion of Resource-Based Cities in China: Spatiotemporal Characteristics and Driving Factors

by Jiangsu Li, Weihua Li, Bo Li, Liangrong Duan, Tianjiao Zhang and Qi Jia

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(23), 16109; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192316109 - 1 Dec 2022

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1205

Abstract

Studying construction land expansion (CLE) characteristics and driving factors in resource-based cities (RBCs) is important to promote efficient land use and maintain ecological equilibrium in RBCs. This study explores the CLE and its driving factors in RBCs. The results indicated that (1) the CLE in RBCs became increasingly obvious, and the number of cities with expansion areas exceeding 20 km² increased from 29 to 86. In RBCs in different regions, CLE in eastern, central, and western regions was obvious, while CLE in the northeast region decelerated. The order of CLE degree at different stages of RBCs was mature, growing, regenerative, and declining. (2) Single factors such as gross domestic product, fixed-asset investment, and secondary industry added value, playing a major role. This differs from the dominant role of population and urbanization in existing research. This occurred because population growth is slow, the urbanization rate is low, population contraction prominently occurs, and economic development exhibits notable path dependence in RBCs. (3) Interaction-factor detection demonstrated that the force of two-factor interaction was greater than that of a single factor, and the interactions of total population with fixed-asset investment and economic development level strongly drove CLE in RBCs. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

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17 pages, 408 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Exploring the Nonlinear Relationship between Renewable Energy Consumption and Economic Growth in the Context of Global Climate Change

by Yuting Feng and Tong Zhao

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(23), 15647; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315647 - 24 Nov 2022

Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1417

Abstract

In recent years, the impact of global climate change has increasingly revealed that energy transformation has become an indispensable part of achieving carbon neutrality. Thus, the relationship between energy transformation and economic growth has become the focus of academic attention. This study examines energy transition issues by using the panel threshold method. It explores the nonlinear impact of renewable energy consumption on economic growth, identifies various factors that lead to this nonlinear impact, and verifies its threshold effect. A comprehensive analysis reveals the following. (1) Overall, renewable energy consumption inhibits real gross domestic product (GDP) growth, but, in the long run, the negative impact becomes positive. (2) The threshold effect of energy consumption intensity (EI) is significant, with a threshold value of approximately 3.213. This means that when EI ≤ 3.213, renewable energy consumption promotes economic growth. However, EI > 3.213 indicates that this impact is significantly negative, which means that advancing the energy transition at this time may occur at the expense of real GDP growth. (3) There is also a significant threshold effect in energy transformation, with a threshold value of approximately 6.456. Similarly, when energy consumption transition (ET) ≤ 6.456, renewable energy consumption dampens real economic growth, and the economic cost of promoting renewable energy consumption is greater at this time. Alternatively, when ET > 6.456, this impact is significant at the 1 percent level and significantly positive. (4) There is also a significant threshold effect for emerging technologies, with a threshold value of approximately 1.367. When ET ≤ 1.367, renewable energy consumption dampens real economic growth, and the economic cost of promoting renewable energy consumption is greater. When ET > 1.367, the impact is significantly positive at the 1% level. To promote the positive development of economic growth, climate change, and energy transition, the nonlinear relationship studied in this paper can fill the gaps in existing research in theory and provide a theoretical basis for the government to adopt different policies at different stages of the energy transition to lay the foundation for improving global climate change in practice. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

20 pages, 1390 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Intelligent Manufacturing and Carbon Emissions Reduction: Evidence from the Use of Industrial Robots in China

by Hao Lv, Beibei Shi, Nan Li and Rong Kang

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(23), 15538; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192315538 - 23 Nov 2022

Cited by 11 | Viewed by 2788

Abstract

Driven by the information technology revolution, using artificial intelligence to promote intelligent manufacturing while achieving carbon emissions reduction is increasingly the focus of international attention. Given this, based on the fact that China’s industrial manufacturing is more intelligent, this paper uses industrial sector data and robot data from 2000 to 2017 to examine the impact of intelligent manufacturing on industrial carbon dioxide emissions and to discuss its internal mechanism. The research found that intelligent manufacturing significantly inhibits carbon dioxide emissions in the industrial sectors. The emission reduction effect is more obvious in industries with higher carbon emissions and intelligence. The mechanism test shows that intelligent manufacturing mainly achieves industrial emission reduction by reducing fossil energy consumption in the production process and improving energy use efficiency. The research findings of this paper provide favorable evidence for using new technologies, such as artificial intelligence, to achieve carbon emissions reduction, and validate the importance of intelligent manufacturing in tackling climate change in the future. It provides an essential reference for developing countries to use artificial intelligence for their carbon emissions reduction goals. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

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22 pages, 1083 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Green Technology Transfer, Environmental Regulation, and Regional Green Development Chasm: Based on the Empirical Evidence from Yangtze River Delta

by Yongmin Shang, Guoqing Lyu and Zefeng Mi

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(21), 13925; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192113925 - 26 Oct 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1931

Abstract

In the face of achieving the overall goal of emission peak and carbon neutrality, strengthening green technology transfer and environmental regulation is the key to narrowing the green technology gap and green development chasm between regions. This paper integrates green technology transfer, environmental regulation, and the green development chasm into one model, and analyzes the mechanism by which green technology transfer and environmental regulation impact the green development chasm. An empirical test was conducted by employing green technology transfer patent and panel data of the Yangtze River Delta from 2005–2019. The results are as follows: (1) Although the green development chasm still exists in the Yangtze River Delta, green technology transfer and environmental regulation have a positive impact on narrowing the regional green development chasm. Especially, the superposition of green technology transfer and environmental regulation can effectively make up for the lack of government and market regulation, and significantly promote the narrowing of the green development chasm. (2) Regional heterogeneity exists and developed regions can achieve the goal of narrowing the green development chasm by relying on green technology transfer or environmental regulation, while less developed regions must rely on the synergy of two dimensions. Thus, the coordination of green technology transfer and environmental regulation must be strengthened. Based on the above research, the main contributions of this paper are to analyze the theoretical mechanism of green technology transfer, environmental regulation, and regional green development chasm, to provide a theoretical and empirical basis for realizing the overall goal of regional green development, and suggestions for optimizing China’s current policies. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

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21 pages, 1251 KiB

Open AccessArticle

Does the Establishment of National New Areas Improve Urban Ecological Efficiency? Empirical Evidence Based on Staggered DID Model

by Jingbin Wang, Huiling Qiao, Jing Liu and Bo Li

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(20), 13623; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013623 - 20 Oct 2022

Cited by 3 | Viewed by 1794

Abstract

The environmental effects of national new areas have been an important topic but received little attention in academia. This study conducts a quasi-natural experiment using panel data of China’s 282 prefecture-level cities from 2006 to 2019, and evaluates the establishment of national new areas on urban ecological efficiency using the staggered difference-in-difference (DID) method, tests the robustness, and further examines the influential mechanism and urban heterogeneity of the empirical results. The results show that the establishment of national new areas has significantly improved urban eco-efficiency. Moreover, the mechanism analysis of the influences shows that national new areas improve urban eco-efficiency by improving urbanization level and urban transportation infrastructure. In addition, the heterogeneity analysis of cities shows that national new areas of cities in eastern and central regions are both significantly improving urban eco-efficiency, while those in western and northeastern regions are not. Furthermore, the promotion effect in the regions of “one new area in one city” model is better than that in “one new area in two cities” model; national new areas in non-resource-based cities show more positive effects on promoting urban eco-efficiency than those in resource-based cities. The conclusions reliably evaluate the results of the current construction of national new areas and provide feasible suggestions for further implementation of the related policy to balance economic development and environmental protection. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

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20 pages, 2016 KiB

Open AccessArticle

The Impact of Foreign Direct Investment on Urban Green Total Factor Productivity and the Mechanism Test

by Mingliang Zhao, Yue Gao, Qing Liu and Wei Sun

Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19(19), 12183; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph191912183 - 26 Sep 2022

Cited by 9 | Viewed by 1697

Abstract

This paper employs the slack-based model directional distance function to measure the green total factor productivity of each city, using the panel data of 284 prefecture-level cities in China from 2004 to 2019 and considering the unexpected output. The results are as follows: ① Foreign direct investment significantly suppresses the improvement of urban green total factor productivity, and the negative impact on the green technology progress index is the main reason to inhibit the increase of the green total factor productivity. The results are still significant through a series of robustness tests such as replacing variables and eliminating outliers; the positive intermediary effect of scientific and technological innovation exists, and the Sobel test and bootstrap random sampling test are passed. The upgrading of industrial structure has a positive regulating effect on the improvement of urban green total factor productivity. ② The impact of foreign direct investment on urban green total factor productivity has regional heterogeneity. The inhibitory effect of foreign direct investment on resource-based cities and non-coastal cities is greater than that on non-resource-based cities and coastal cities, and the negative impact on China-Europe train opening cities is greater than that on non-opening cities. Accordingly, the paper puts forward policy suggestions from the aspects of improving the quality of foreign direct investment and implementing differentiated management. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue The Environmental Economics of Global Climate Change and Sustainable Development)

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