Analysis of the Impact of Carbon Trading Policies on Carbon Emission and Carbon Emission Efficiency

As the carbon trading scheme has a significant impact on China’s sustainable economy and environmental protection, the policy influence of carbon emissions and carbon emission efficiency in pilot provinces has become a key research topic. Based on the data of 30 provinces and cities in China from 2007 to 2018, this paper estimates carbon emission efficiency by using a super-efficiency SBM model, and the difference-in-difference method is adopted to investigate the policy’s influence. The results show that: (1) carbon trading policies have a significant carbon emission reduction effect and a positive effect on carbon emission efficiency in pilot areas. (2) There is a dynamic effect that increases year by year, and the policies have a synergistic emission reduction effect on CO2 and SO2. (3) The carbon trading policy has different effects on carbon emission efficiency depending on pilot areas. Before and after the implementation of the policy, carbon emission efficiency in Tianjin remained almost unchanged, while the carbon emission efficiency in Hubei and Chongqing increased significantly. Although the efficiency of Shanghai and Guangdong remains at the forefront, they fluctuate greatly. Beijing is the only city to remain a frontier every year, showing significant policy impact.