Evaluation of PM2.5 and CO2 synergistic emission reduction and its driving factors in China

Chinese government proposed that “reducing pollution while reducing carbon” should be promoted for synergistic emission reduction. It is crucial to evaluate of particulate matter (PM2.5) and carbon dioxide (CO2) synergistic emission reduction level and explore its driving factors in China. Using the coupled coordination model, this study evaluated the synergistic reduction emission levels of PM2.5 and CO2 and studied their spatial agglomeration in China's provinces from 2000 to 2018. The spatiotemporal changes of seven driving factors for synergistic emission reduction were studied using geographic and time weighted regression model. (1) The synergistic emission reduction level showed spatiotemporal differences in China. The level presented a trend of first decreasing and then increasing from 2000 to 2018. It was the lowest in the northern coastal economic zone and the highest in the southern coastal economic zone. It had strong spatial aggregation. The High-High aggregation regions were mainly distributed in the northwest and southwest economic zones. There was only one Low-Low aggregation region. It distributed in the northern coastal economic zone. (2) The energy consumption structure played an important role in promoting synergistic emission reduction, while the industrial structure was a key driving factor that hindered synergistic emission reduction.