The global trade of solar photovoltaic (PV) products substantially contributes to increases in solar power generation and carbon emissions reductions. This paper depicts global PV product trade patterns, explores emissions reduction potential, and evaluates the impeding effect of tariff barriers on global PV product trade and emissions reductions. Solar power generation will result in a reduction of emissions in a range of 50–180 gigatons of carbon dioxide equivalent (GtCO₂e) between 2017 and 2060 in a business as usual (BAU) scenario. Compared with BAU, during 2017–2060, global total solar cell and module production and installation will increase by roughly 750 gigawatts (GW) if half of the status quo trade barrier are removed, while it will decrease by 160–370 GW under tensioned trade barrier scenarios. Trade barrier reduction by half from the 2017 status quo level will increase the net carbon emissions mitigation potential by 4–12 GtCO₂e by 2060, while extra trade barrier imposition will result in global net carbon emissions mitigation potential decreasing by up to 3–4 GtCO₂e by 2060. Well-coordinated policy and institutional reforms are recommended to facilitate PV product trade and to deliver the related global environmental benefits.

Against the backdrop of new carbon peak and carbon neutrality targets, China must address livestock carbon emissions (LCEs), which account for the largest proportion of agricultural carbon emissions in China. China has been promoting network infrastructure construction (NIC) for digital transformation. This study explores whether NIC can affect LCEs. To capture the potential effects of NIC, a conceptual framework is constructed originally and its impacts on LCEs are tested empirically through a two-way fixed effect model. The results show that NIC can significantly reduce LCEs. The results hold steady in various robustness checks, and the impacts express heterogeneities across provinces with different LCE levels, NIC levels, and regions. Mechanism analysis reveals that NIC can increase LCEs through the livestock industry scale effect, which is nevertheless outweighed by technological innovation and factor allocation’s reduction effects triggered by NIC. Additionally, transportation infrastructure construction serves a moderating role by reinforcing the reduction effect of NIC on LCEs. The conclusions are crucial for advancing the understanding of NIC’s potential benefits and policymaking for carbon emissions reduction in China.

With the continuous development of economic globalization, China is faced with increasing opportunities and challenges in participating in the global value chain. Investigating the impact of national value chains embedment (NVCs) on regional total factor carbon emission efficiency (RTFCEEs) contributes to a comprehensive understanding of China’s carbon emissions in the development of NVCs. Previous studies have not focused on the impact of NVCs on RTFCEEs, this paper focuses on this issue and innovatively portrays the relationship with the help of a theoretical model. This study can help guide China and other developing countries to formulate carbon emission reduction policies from the perspective of cultivating NVCs and optimizing carbon emissions at the regional level. Based on the non-competitive input–output tables of Chinese provinces in 2012, 2015, and 2017, this paper measures provinces’ embeddedness in NVC, and uses MaxDEA software to construct a data envelopment analysis model to calculate the RTFCEE of respective regions. The results indicate that NVCs have a significant nonlinear impact on RTFCEEs, driven by the scale and technique effects, validating this study’s research hypothesis. The heterogeneity analysis of this paper finds that the impact of NVCs on RTFCEEs is more pronounced in the central and western regions, in regions with higher embedment, and in groups with lower per capita wealth. Moreover, the higher the position of NVCs, the stronger its impact on RTFCEEs. Therefore, China should actively leverage the advantages of NVCs to improve the RTFCEEs at the current stage.