Research background: To achieve the targets for carbon peak and air quality improvement, local governments should propose environmental targets and develop realization paths that are tailored to their unique local conditions. They then promote low-carbon development through the implementation of multiple measures. Purpose of the article: As the government performance appraisal system im-proves, the question arises as to whether governments take the initiative to com-bine environmental policies with government target constraints to reduce carbon emissions. Methods: The announcement of environmental target constraints by local governments in government work reports is considered a quasi-natural experiment. This study examines the effect of government environmental target constraints (GETC) on carbon emissions (CEs) using differences-in-differences (DID), propensity score matching-DID (PSM-DID), and spatial-DID (SDID) with data from 241 Chinese cities from 2003 to 2019. Findings & value added: The results demonstrate that GETC can effectively reduce local CEs, with the inhibitory effect being most effective in the first two years after setting environmental targets, but diminishing in the third year. GETC can reduce local CEs through three paths: reducing energy consumption, promoting industrial structure optimization, and encouraging green technology innovation. Spatial spillover effects show that GETC reduces local CEs while exacerbating CEs in neighboring cities, indicating a beggar-thy-neighbor effect in conventional environmental regulation policy. This effect is observed mainly in the geographic matrix and the economic-geographic matrix, but not in the economic matrix. According to heterogeneity analysis, GETC in the eastern and central cities can significantly reduce CEs. The inhibitory effect of GETC on local CEs is stronger in cities where secretaries and mayors have longer tenures and higher levels of education. The paper's theoretical value lies in exploring the reduction of CEs through the combination of government self-restraint and environmental policies, providing a new solution for local governments to achieve CEs reduction. Furthermore, it offers practical insights into the improvement of the Chinese government assessment system.

Research background: Since China is facing the dual challenges of environmental pollution and climate change, how to effectively deal with the collaborative reduction of pollution and carbon emissions (CRPCE) has become an important problem. Energy saving and emission reduction fiscal policy (ESER), as a green fiscal policy, plays an important role in solving China's environmental problems. Purpose of the article: The aim of this study is to analyze the direct impacts, mechanisms and spatial spillover effects of the ESER policy on the CRPCE through theoretical and empirical analyses, thereby providing practical and feasible fiscal-related policy proposals for developing countries like China to achieve low-carbon development. Methods: Difference-in-differences method (DID), spatial DID. Findings & value added: Based on panel data from 274 Chinese cities, this study analyzes the impact of ESER policy on the CRPCE. The findings demonstrate that the ESER policy effectively enhances the CRPCE. The mechanism analysis demonstrates that the impact of the ESER policy is realized by promoting green technology innovation, improving energy efficiency, and increasing industrial structure upgrading. The heterogeneity analysis demonstrates that the ESER policy can be more effective in enhancing the CRPCE when it is implemented in northern, resource-based, and high fiscal self-sufficiency cities. The spatial analysis results suggest that ESER policy attenuates the CRPCE of neighboring cities. In addition, the co-implementation of the ESER policy and the innovation policy is more effective in enhancing the CRPCE, but cities are required to implement the innovation policy first. This study broadens the research perspective on the synergistic effects of green fiscal policy in reducing pollutant and carbon emissions, and offers a useful guide for other developing countries on green fiscal policy.