China has committed to reaching carbon peak before 2030. To realize the carbon peak goal, financial development plays an essential role in developing a green economy. Based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2006 to 2019, this paper explores the impact of financial development on carbon intensity both theoretically and empirically. A financial development index system is constructed and computed using the entropy method. A spatial lag panel data model is employed to empirically test the interaction effect of financial development on carbon intensity. Moreover, the mediating effects of industrial upgrading and technological innovation are further investigated. The results show that: first, carbon intensity generates strong spatial spillover effects between provinces in China. Second, financial development significantly reduces carbon intensity, and is most pronounced in central China, followed by western and eastern China. Third, industrial upgrading and technological innovation are important channels to assist financial development in cutting down carbon intensity, and both produce positive spatial spillover effects. These findings suggest that inter-regional cooperation and coordination on financial development, industrial upgrading, and technological innovation are conducive to achieving low-carbon development targets. This research not only has practical significance to China, but also provides global reference value to other countries.

Facing the rising global temperature, China, the largest annual carbon emitter, is constantly fulfilling its obligations and acting to inject Chinese impetus into global climate action. Under this background, this paper uses an IV-TSLS regression model to empirically explore the impact of China’s Environment Goods Export (CEGE) on the Carbon Emission Intensity of Importing Countries (CEIIC), including a sample of 187 countries, covering the period from 2012 to 2020. We find that the CEGE can reduce the CEIIC by changing the energy mix of importing countries. All five categories of environment goods classified by their protection functions can significantly reduce the CEIIC. Among them, the goods used for the disposal and recycling of waste and pollutants, emission monitoring, and renewable energy projects have the most powerful inhibition effect. The inhibition effect of the CEGE on the Carbon Emission Intensity (CEI) in South America is the greatest, followed by Africa, Oceania, and Asia, while this effect is insignificant in European and North American countries. The CEGE has a stronger inhibition effect on the CEI of non-APEC countries than APEC countries. The CEGE has a far greater inhibition effect on the CEI of six economic corridor countries than the other countries.