The Effectiveness of Environmental Spending in China and the Environmental Kuznets Curve

The aim of this study is to determine whether recent environmental spending in China has enabled it to reduce its emissions of greenhouse gases in the context of an Environmental Kuznets Curve-based model and promote sustainable economic development. Following the Paris Agreement in 2015, there has been a coordinated effort to reduce the consumption of fossil fuels and prevent the excessive warming of the climate. The study uses annual regional data across China and a dynamic panel data approach for estimating an EKC model which includes measures of the increased use of fossil fuels and the spending across China to reduce environmental damage. The results suggest that the policies have been effective in controlling emissions across a variety of pollutants and that the EKC tends to hold in China but varies according to the pollutant. This suggests that these policies should be continued and where possible, extended.