Abstract:

Against the backdrop of increasingly severe global climate change， actively and steadily promoting the realization of the "dual-carbon" goal has become an inevitable requirement for China to implement the new development concept and promote high-quality development. The data from 279 prefecture-level cities spanning from 2006 to 2022 are employed， an endogenous growth theoretical model incorporating green finance policies is constructed， and a difference-in-differences model is utilized to empirically examine the carbon emission reduction effects and their influencing mechanisms of the pilot policies in green finance reform and innovation zones.It is found that the establishment of green finance reform and innovation zones has led to a 46.72% reduction in carbon emission intensity at the prefecture-level city level. Mechanism test results indicate that this policy can successfully achieve carbon emission reduction effects by promoting green technological innovation and optimizing industrial structure. Moreover， under the regulatory role of environmental regulations， the carbon emission reduction effects of the policies in green finance reform and innovation zones remain significantly positive. Further analysis reveals that the carbon emission reduction effects are more pronounced in large and above cities and non-resource-based cities. It is demonstrated that the green finance reform and innovation pilot zone policy is an effective measure to achieve the "dual-carbon" goal， and at the same time provides a policy basis and empirical insights for promoting green development and realizing Chinese-style modernization.

Key words: green finance policy, carbon emission reduction, green technological innovation, industrial structure optimization, environmental regulation