The literature generally focuses on the impact of robots or artificial intelligence on the employment and wages, but ignores the effect of robotization on the skill structure and its underlying mechanisms and lacks empirical evidence from developing countries. We theoretically develop a task model by introducing the skill structure and empirically investigate the effect of robotization on the skill structure based on Chinese provincial panel data from 2006 to 2018. Results show that: (1) the development of robotization in China is conducive to improving the skill structure, and the baseline conclusion still holds even though adopting multiple indexes of skill structure and controlling the endogeneity bias. (2) Robotization generates not only job displacement effect by displacing unskilled workers with robots but also structural transformation effect by increasing the proportion of technology-intensive industries, which can improve the skill structure. (3) In coastal provinces with strong Internet foundation, information transmission capacity and labour protection intensity, high labour cost and ageing rate, robotization plays a stronger role in improving the skill structure. Moreover, robotization can induce the employment polarization. These conclusions can help avoid technical unemployment and promote the upgrading of the skill structure in China.

Introduction The global imperative to combat climate change has necessitated a strategic shift from dual control of energy consumption to dual control of carbon emissions. This transition is more than a policy evolution; it represents a fundamental reorientation toward sustainable development, demanding a profound reassessment of energy production and consumption patterns with a focus on their environmental and carbon footprints. The theoretical underpinnings of this shift are rooted in ecological economics, environmental justice, and the pursuit of a low-carbon economy. Recent progress is evident in advancements such as carbon pricing mechanisms, renewable energy grid integration, energy efficiency standards, and carbon capture and storage technologies, all of which are pivotal in reducing emissions from existing infrastructure. Against the backdrop of intensifying global climate change and increasingly prominent environmental pollution, strengthening carbon reduction and pollution control has become a core task for countries worldwide in achieving sustainable development. As the world's largest carbon emitter and a major developing country, China has set strategic goals to peak carbon emissions by 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality by 2060, while advancing comprehensive management of air, water, and soil pollution. This Research Topic aims to construct an integrated, interdisciplinary framework bridging the theoretical and practical dimensions of the transition to carbon-centric control mechanisms. It seeks to identify, analyze, and overcome inherent barriers in this transition while exploring innovative solutions for effective transformation. Through rigorous review, 44 high-quality research papers have been gathered, covering theoretical exploration, policy application, and future impact prediction in carbon reduction and pollution control, providing valuable academic support for advancing high-quality environmental governance. Theoretical Foundation: Unveiling the Mechanisms of Policy-Pollution-Innovation Interaction Theoretical exploration forms the cornerstone of optimizing carbon reduction and pollution control policies. This Research Topic delves into the intrinsic links between environmental policies, economic factors, and environmental outcomes, making in-depth progress in revealing nonlinear relationships and regulatory mechanisms. A key area of focus is the interplay between environmental regulation, technological innovation, and emission reduction. Yin et al. (2025) examine the nonlinear and diminishing marginal returns of environmental technological innovation on emission reduction under command-and-control regulation, finding that technological constraints limit effectiveness and underscoring the need for tailored innovation strategies and region-specific support. Similarly, Zhang and Gao (2025) investigate the nonlinear effects of heterogeneous environmental regulations on green innovation, revealing U-shaped relationships for command-and-control and public participation regulations, and an inverted U-shaped relationship for market-incentive regulations, with common prosperity acting as a positive moderator, highlighting the importance of context-aware policy design. Gu and Liu (2025) explore the formation mechanism and continuity of the peer effect in local governments' green governance within China's broader historical and governance reform context. The research highlights how historical administrative decisions and interest mechanisms shape peer influences, leading to convergence behaviors that affect resource allocation and green governance effectiveness. The findings emphasize understanding these dynamics to enhance policy design and governance modernization. Economic dynamics also play a complex role. Zhang et al. (2025) investigate financial globalization's nonlinear relationship with carbon emission intensity across 144 countries, uncovering an inverted U-shape: low financial openness increases emissions via fossil-fuel investments, while higher openness shifts capital to renewables, reducing emissions through improved energy efficiency, renewable share, and technological innovation, with spatial spillovers affecting neighboring countries. Meanwhile, Güler et al. (2025) find that GDP and foreign direct investment (FDI) generally exacerbate environmental degradation, supporting the pollution haven hypothesis, though urbanization and value-added agriculture contribute positively to sustainability. Technological and regional mechanisms further enrich theoretical landscape. Wu and Yang (2025) demonstrate that CCUS significantly boosts enterprises' total factor productivity, mediated by improved external environments, enhanced financing, and innovation, with stronger effects in large, state-owned firms and key emitting industries. In urban transportation, Sheng et al. (2025) highlight fuel quality improvement as critical for synergistic greenhouse gas and pollutant reductions, while rail transit and low-carbon travel offer notable linkage effects. Regional studies, such as the analysis by Chen et al. (2024) of the Wuhan metropolitan area, reveal spatial and temporal homogeneity between PM2.5 and carbon emissions, influenced by factors from meteorology to energy efficiency, with impacts varying across time and space. Alomair et al. (2025) empirically distinguish the effects of natural resource use on environmental sustainability in G20 countries from 1995 to 2019, using carbon emissions and ecological footprint as indicators within a STIRPAT framework. Employing advanced econometric techniques (CS-ARDL, AMG, quantile regression), it finds that both production and consumption of coal and oil significantly harm environmental sustainability, with production exerting a stronger influence. Natural gas exhibits mixed direct and indirect effects. The research also confirms that green policies, including green energy, technology, finance, and environmental taxes,...