Remission of carbon pollutants with the regional integration enlargement: Data from Yangtze River Delta

Carbon emissions are a major global concern. As a result of the carbon peaking and neutrality goals, carbon emissions are of great significance to the coordinated development of regional economies and the green transformation and upgrading of industries. Using data from prefecture‐level cities for urban agglomeration enlargement in the Yangtze River Delta in 2010 and 2013, this study examined the impacts of the regional integration enlargement policy on urban carbon emissions and explored its mechanisms. Moreover, it uses the synthetic control method as an assessment tool to test the robustness of the assessment results and explore the intricacies and impacts of the integration. The evaluation results were robust based on a series of tests. The study found that regional integration as a result of the expansion of the Yangtze River Delta urban agglomeration has had a mitigating effect on carbon emissions. Further analyses based on the mediating model found that industrial upgrading and green innovation were the main mediating variables through which the regional integration enlargement policy affected regional carbon emissions. Development of the Yangtze River Delta has affected carbon emissions by accelerating industrial and green innovation. The effect of industrial upgrading cancels out emission reductions due to green innovation.