The Impact of Digitalization Inputs on China's Industrial Carbon Emissions Under the"Dual Carbon"Goals——Analysis based on the LMDI decomposition model
As the world's largest industrial nation and the top emitter of carbon,China's exploration of the impact of digitalization investments on industrial carbon emissions is crucial for achieving the"Dual Carbon"goals and promoting high-quality economic development.This paper develops an LMDI decomposition model for China's industrial carbon emis-sions that incorporates digitalization investments.Utilizing input-output table data published by the OECD,this study quanti-tatively assesses the absolute and relative contributions of various driving factors to the changes in carbon emissions,with a focus on the role of digitalization investments.The findings from 2006 to 2021 indicate that the annual increase in China's industrial carbon emissions has been gradually decreasing,suggesting that the industry is in the process of decarbonization.The overall digital-related effect is negative,indicating that digitalization significantly promotes the reduction of industrial carbon emissions in China.The scale effect related to digitalization is positive,whereas the technology effect is negative.However,the absolute value of the technology effect surpasses that of the scale effect,overall showing a decarbonization effect.A time-period analysis reveals that the decarbonizing impact of digitalization investments has been deepening from the"Eleventh Five-Year Plan"to the"Fourteenth Five-Year Plan".An industry-specific study indicates significant heterogeneity in the performance of digi-tal-related effects across different industrial sectors.Based on these findings,it is recommended to prioritize the carbon reduc-tion impact of digitalization,accelerate the integration of digital and green technologies in the industrial sector,enhance invest-ments in industry digitalization,improve the supply capacity of digital low-carbon technologies,and encourage high-ener-gy-consuming industries in particular to explore new digital decarbonization strategies.