Evaluating the Impact of National Park Pilots on Carbon Emission Reduction: Evidence from a Quasi-Natural Experiment

Abstract The construction of national parks as a strategy for ecological protection and environmental governance has gained significant attention. To validate the impact of national parks on carbon alleviation, this study employs the staggered implementations of national parks as a quasi-natural experiment. Based on the difference-in-differences (DID) model, this study evaluates the impact of national park pilots on urban carbon emissions, with samples from 277 prefecture-level cities from 2010 to 2020. The results indicate that national park pilots significantly reduce carbon emissions, confirmed by a series of robustness checks. Further mechanism tests reveal that national park pilots contribute to reducing carbon emissions through expanding green spaces and curbing industrial activities. Additionally, heterogeneity analysis shows that certain types of cities experience more significant improvements in decreasing CO₂ emissions after the establishment of national park pilots. This study provides new empirical evidence supporting the national parks’ role in environmental governance.