With the continuous advancement of global scientific and technological capabilities, the issue of global warming caused by greenhouse gas emissions has received widespread attention from countries worldwide. Promoting carbon reduction and curbing the trend of global warming have become urgent and significant challenges for China and the world. Therefore, it is of great practical significance to explore the impact and mechanism of the digital economy on carbon reduction. This paper empirically analyzes the impact and means of the digital economy on carbon emissions using panel regression models and mediation effect models. The research indicates that the digital economy significantly impacts carbon emissions, and the following main conclusions are drawn: (1) The influence of the digital economy on carbon intensity exhibits an inverted U-shaped curve, starting with promotion and then inhibition. (2) The digital economy can affect carbon emissions through industrial structural upgrading and technological innovation. (3) Regions with a relatively high level of digital economy development also tend to have higher energy utilization efficiency, leading to a more pronounced impact of the digital economy on carbon emissions levels.

In the context of dual-carbon, corporate green transformation, a significant measure of the green effect of Environmental Pollution Liability Insurance (EPLI), garners substantial attention in current research. By leveraging the 2008 EPLI pilot policy as an exogenous event, this paper employs a difference-in-difference model to scrutinize the influence of the EPLI pilot on the green transformation of listed companies. We find that: (1) The EPLI pilot actively promotes corporate green transformation. (2) The pilot policy’s impact on green transformation is mediated through regional green development and enterprise investment efficiency. (3) The pilot policy manifests asymmetric effects on green transformation, influenced by regional, industrial, and enterprise-specific pollution levels, as well as government environmental concerns. (4) The EPLI pilot policy engenders enduring financial implications and contributes to the governance of information. This study is beneficial to enrich the research on the EPLI system and green transformation of enterprises that provide policy suggestions for improving the green financial system and promoting the green transformation of enterprises.

Economic complexity and environmental policies have significant impacts on environmental sustainability. Furthermore, high-quality institutions may be a necessary tool for ensuring environmental sustainability. This study investigates the impact of economic complexity and institutional quality on environmental degradation. It analyzes annual data from 116 countries from 2008-2021 using fixedeffects models and the method of moment quantile regression. The results indicate that increased economic complexity leads to higher carbon emissions. Conversely, high-quality institutions reduce carbon emissions. Moreover, institutional quality can effectively mitigate the environmental pressures arising from increasing economic complexity. Additionally, foreign direct investment is found to lower carbon emissions. It was recommended that the quality of institutions should be upgraded, that differentiated environmental policies be developed, that the sustainability of urban planning be emphasized, and that foreign direct investment and technology transfer be promoted to foster sustainable development.

Based on panel data from 286 cities at the prefecture level and above in China spanning from 2010 to 2020 and utilizing the digital economy development objectives advanced by the “Broadband China” strategy in 2014 as a natural experiment, we employed the double-difference method to examine the impact of digital economy development on urban environmental pollution management and its underlying mechanisms. The study reveals that the “Broadband China” pilot policy significantly influences the level of environmental pollution control when compared to non-demonstration cities. This conclusion still holds after a series of robustness tests. The mechanism analysis demonstrates that the “Broadband China” pilot policy affects the level of environmental pollution control by enhancing regional innovation capacity and upgrading the industrial structure. Moreover, heterogeneity analysis indicates that the influence of the “Broadband China” pilot policy on environmental pollution control varies depending on location choice, city size, and degree of urbanization. Notably, the impact of constructing demonstration cities is particularly pronounced in the eastern region, larger cities, and areas with higher urbanization rates. This study holds significant implications for enhancing the urban ecological environment and achieving high-quality development.

Background: Green innovation is essential for sustainable development but often faces financial and managerial constraints in emerging markets. Controlling shareholders’ behaviours, such as equity pledges, may impact firms’ long-term innovation incentives. Aim: This study investigated how controlling shareholders’ equity pledges influence corporate green innovation and explores the underlying mechanisms and contextual variations of this relationship. Setting: The research focused on Chinese A-share listed companies over the period from 2012 to 2022, offering insights from an emerging market context where both green transformation and equity pledging practices are prevalent. Method: Using panel data regression analysis and mediation models, the study examines the direct impact of equity pledges on green innovation, and further analyses three mediating channels: Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) performance, financing constraints, and tunnelling behaviour. Results: The results show that controlling shareholders’ equity pledges significantly reduce firms’ green innovation efforts, primarily by lowering research and development (R&D) investment. The adverse effects operate through worsened ESG performance, tighter financing constraints, and increased tunnelling activities. However, the inhibitory effect is mitigated in firms with low pledge ratios, high pollution levels, or state ownership. Conclusion: Equity pledging by controlling shareholders poses a substantial threat to green innovation in most firms, although certain firm characteristics can buffer this effect. Contribution: This article contributes to the literature by uncovering the dark side of shareholder pledging behaviour in the context of environmental innovation, highlighting the need for regulatory scrutiny and corporate governance reforms to safeguard long-term sustainable development.

China’s “dual carbon” agenda shows its proactive approach to global carbon reduction. This study uses a spatial panel model to examine financial development and carbon emissions in China. It also examines how financial development thresholds affect carbon emissions, using research and development intensity and technical market development level as key variables. The results show that: (1) Finance in China is concentrated in the Circum-Bohai Sea and eastern coastal regions, with lower levels in the central and western regions. China’s high-carbon zones are mostly in the northwest and northeast. However, low-emission areas are mainly in the south. (2) Financial development increases local carbon emissions and decreases neighboring carbon emissions. However, it still hinders carbon emissions in the region. (3) Financial development promotes more carbon emissions in the northwest than in other regions, possibly due to additional variables. (4) Financial development initially increases regional carbon emissions when R&D intensity is the threshold variable, but this effect fades. When technological market development is the threshold variable, financial development’s impact on carbon emissions has gone from insignificant to major to insignificant promotion.