Promoting or inhibiting? Green fiscal policy and urban green innovation

Can green fiscal policy(GFP)incentivize the proliferation of urban green innovation(GI)and be a novel cata‐lyst for energy conservation and emission reduction within the“dual-carbon”framework?This paper explores GFP ramifications for GI by implementing a difference-in-differences model in a natural experiment centered on the“Comprehensive Demonstration City of Energy Saving and Emission Reduction Fiscal Policies”.The em‐pirical analysis reveals several key findings:(1)GFP exhibits significant augmentation at the GI level,with an observable evolutionary trend of increasing marginal impact.Importantly,these outcomes withstand rigorous robustness tests,including propensity score matching.(2)A mechanism analysis elucidates the dual impact of GFP on GI growth.GFP directly fosters GI advancement indirectly by promoting talent aggregation,expanding scientific and technological investment,and attracting external financial resources.(3)A heterogeneity analy‐sis demonstrates that GFP enhancement of GI is closely associated with the patent category,manifesting a dis‐tinct pattern of“eastern region>other regions”and“non-resource cities>resource cities”.The study’s em‐pirical findings offer crucial real-world insights to guide the Chinese government in formulating a more effi‐cient GFP and facilitating the expansion of innovative endeavors while contributing to environmentally sus‐tainable and high-value development.

The Spatial Effect of Green Tax Policy on Energy Efficiency: Evidence from China

Based on the 30 provinces(cities,autonomous regions)panel data of China from 2007 to 2016,this paper establishes a Spatial Durbin Model to explore the spatial effects of green tax policies in broad and narrow sense on energy efficiency.The results show that:(1)China's provincial energy efficiency has significant spatial correlation.(2)the relationship between the intensity of narrow sense green tax policy and the energy efficiency of the surrounding areas is an inverted U-shaped curve.(3)the relationship between the generalized green tax policy intensity and the energy efficiency of the surrounding areas is a U-shaped curve.

Spillover effects and incentive initiatives of green behavior

Spillover effects play a crucial role in hindering the effective implementation of green behavior.Whether it pertains to enterprises or individuals,engaging in green behavior often leads to increased costs.However,the benefits derived from green behavior cannot be fully recouped but rather spill over and benefit other non-green entities,thereby undermining the incentives for companies or individuals to engage in green practices.The study categorizes the spillover effects of corporate green investment into three aspects based on the channels through which they occur:environmental spillover,inter-industry spillover(vertical spillover),and intra-industry spillover(horizontal spillover).While these three spillover mechanisms work in tandem with green behavior,existing literature has predominantly focused on the "free-rider " effect of environmental spillover and horizontal spillover,neglecting the impact of vertical spillover.Additionally,this paper provides a comprehensive review of measures aimed at incentivizing corporate green investment.Current government-level measures often overlook the multifaceted nature of spillover effects stemming from green behavior and the factors influencing corporate decision-making in this regard,resulting in various limitations and deficiencies.The paper argues that,besides relying solely on direct interventions from external actors such as the government or society,a more significant emphasis should be placed on enhancing the role of enterprises as a fundamental approach.This involves fostering the endogenous capacity of enterprises to generate green investment and facilitating a beneficial interaction that respects corporate autonomy.Consequently,policymakers should consider multiple dimensions of spillover effects and design appropriate mechanisms that leverage the inherent capabilities of enterprises,thus stimulating green investment.This approach represents a crucial area for future research that warrants further in-depth inve stigation.

Tianxia Qingshi(World Circumstances)in the Political World of Traditional Chinese Scholar Officials:A Case Study of the“Green Sprouts Policy Polemic”in the Early Xining Period of the Northern Song

How to deal with differences is a question that any political body must respond to.The individualist perspective emphasizes that actors will adopt measures to exclude or even eliminate divergent claims in order to gain control over interests power or statutory policy,but the rich experience of traditional Chinese scholar officials offers the possibility of going beyond the limitations of this perspective.The perspective of“tianxia qingshi(world circumstances)”as a new narrative reveals a unique practical logic and dynamic mechanism in Chinese political civilization that have been overlooked by the individualist perspective.The“Green Sprouts policy(qing miao fa)polemic”in the early years of the New Policies era of the Northern Song dynasty(960-1127)presents a historical situation that has not been given full attention by existing research.

DEVELOPING MUNICIPAL POLICY AND PROGRAMS TO ACCELERATE MARKET TRANSFORMATION IN THE BUILDING SECTOR

Edmonton’s cold climate and strong economic connections to the energy sector have made energy vital to the city’s quality of life.The fossil fuel industry has helped the city’s economy grow and Edmonton boasts one of the lowest unemployment rates in Canada at just over four percent.But Edmonton’s economic prosperity does not shelter it from the realities of global environmental challenges.Just like other jurisdictions,climate change and the possibility of future energy constraints means that Edmonton must reevaluate its sources and use of energy across all sectors,including its buildings.To this end,on June 20,2012,the Edmonton City Council approved the Green Building Plan and Policy,designed to help accelerate the greening of Edmonton’s building stock.The policy outlines the strong role the city of Edmonton can play in supporting a green building sector to improve the environmental,health,and socioeconomic performance of all existing and new commercial,institutional,industrial,mixed-use,multifamily residential,and single-family residential buildings in Edmonton.The policy goes on to provide the mandate for the city to lead and support the delivery of public and industry education campaigns,provide incentives and engage in capacity-building activities,and use its authority in land-use planning and development approvals to help transform the local green building market.The Green Building Plan outlines the high-level approach and details a suite of tools and programs that will help Edmonton achieve its Green Building Policy.The information and recommendations in the plan are the results of collaboration between the city of Edmonton and building industry representatives.Over the course of nearly a year,from the autumn of 2010 to the autumn of 2011,the city of Edmonton coordinated conversations,meetings,and workshops to confirm the case for action,understand market transformation theory and how it could be applied in Edmonton,clarify the role of local government,and research local market conditions in an effort to develop an implementation approach that will make the policy reality.Using a Community Energy and Emissions Mapping and Planning(CEEMAP)tool and assisted by HB Lanarc(now Golder Associates),the city of Edmonton evaluated the energy and emissions implications of program implementation.

Land Use Change and Anthropogenic Driving Forces:A Case Study in Yanhe River Basin

Human activities alter land use patterns and affect landscape sustainability. It is therefore very important to investigate the relationship between land use change and human activities. This study focuses on the detection of changing land use patterns in the Yanhe River Basin in northern Loess Plateau of China between 1995 and 2008. Landscape metrics were used to analyze the changing land use patterns and to explore the related anthropogenic driving forces. Results show that:1) Totally, 186 590 ha of croplands were converted into alternate land-use types (equivalent to 61.7% of the original cropland area). The majority of cropland areas were found to be converted into grassland and woodland areas (accounting for 55.9% and 4.9% respectively of the original cropland areas). 2) Both cropland and woodland demonstrated an increasing fragmentation tendency while grasslands showed a decreasing fragmentation tendency. 3) Multiple driving forces of land use change were thought to act together to changes in landscape metrics in the Yanhe River Basin. The anthropogenic driving forces were analyzed from four perspectives:ecological conservation policy, labor force transfer, industrial development, and rural settlement. The policy of the GfG (Grain for Green) project was the main driving factor which expedited the conversion from cropland to woodland and grassland. Industrial development was also found to affect land use change through the direct impact of economic activities such as oil exploration and agricultural production, or through indirect impacts such as the industrial structures readjustment. Labor force transfer from rural to urban areas was found to follow the industrial structure readjustment and further drove land use change from cropland to off-farm land use. Establishment of new tile-roofed houses instead of cave-type dwellings in rural settlements has helped to aggregate the original scattered land-use type of construction.

Industrial transformation and green production to reduce environmental emissions: Taking cement industry as a case

Industrial transformation and green production(ITGP) is a new 10-year international research initiative proposed by the Chinese National Committee for Future Earth. It is also an important theme for adapting and responding to global environmental change. Aiming at a thorough examination of the implementation of ITGP in China, this paper presents its objectives, its three major areas, and their progress so far. It also identifies the key elements of its management and proposes new perspectives on managing green transformation. For instance, we introduce a case study on cement industry that shows the positive policy effects of reducing backward production capacity on PCDD/Fs emissions. Finally,to develop different transformation scenarios for a green future, we propose four strategies: 1) policy integration for promoting green industry, 2)system innovation and a multidisciplinary approach, 3) collaborative governance with all potential stakeholders, and 4) managing uncertainty,risks, and long-time horizons.

Impact Analysis of Green Procurement Policy for Forest Products in France and Its Reference

In order to combat illegal logging and associated trade and promote sustainable forest management, major developed countries, including France, have implemented green procurement policy for forest products. This paper described the background of why France implements green procurement policy for forest products, analyzed the basic content of the policy, and made a comprehensive assessment of the impact of green procurement policy on suppliers, processors, eco-environment and competitiveness of forest products. Finally, with the experiences from French implementation of the green procurement policy for forest products, the paper put forward policy recommendations for China to implement green procurement policy for forest products.