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Full-process control enables emissions trading to promote synergistic reductions in carbon emissions and pollution in China

Year: 2026
Type: article
Abstract: This study examines the entire process of carbon and pollution reduction and assesses the effects of the emissions trading scheme (ETS) on the integrated outcomes of carbon and pollution reduction. The findings indicate that the introduction of the ETS not only leads to a decrease in carbon emission intensity, industrial SO 2 intensity, PM 2.5 levels, and industrial wastewater discharge, but also enhances the overall utilization of industrial solid waste and the synergistic development index for carbon and pollution reduction. Specifically, ETS participation increases the synergistic development index by 0.034, representing approximately a 3.9% improvement relative to the sample mean, and reduces the logarithm of carbon emission intensity by 0.040, corresponding to roughly a 3.9% decline in carbon intensity. This result suggests that the ETS can reduce various pollutant emissions directly and achieve overall synergy across the entire pollution emission system. Furthermore, this paper conducts endogeneity tests and a series of robustness checks to verify the stability of the benchmark results. The mechanism analysis reveals that the ETS exerts its synergistic effect through dual-pillar policy synergy, data element resource allocation, and green technical difference convergence. The results from the heterogeneity analysis indicate that the ETS has a stronger synergistic effect on carbon and pollution reduction in resource-rich and energy-supplying cities. For cities with varying levels of marketization, ETS’s role in enhancing the synergy between carbon and pollution reduction is also different.
DOI: 10.1007/s43621-026-04769-3
Language: English
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $1,390
OpenAlex ID: W7214444259
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