China’s Climate Change Policy Attention and Forestry Carbon Sequestration Growth

Abstract

Forest carbon sinks play an important role in climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Chinese government has demonstrated its proactive approach to addressing climate change by setting development targets for low-carbon transformation and making solemn commitments to peak carbon emissions before 2030 and to achieve carbon neutrality by 2060. In this article, the Chinese Government’s Work Reports and Five-Year Plans are used to construct an index named China’s Climate Change Policy Attention (CCPA), which reflects the government’s emphasis on climate change and forestry in China. This article aims to examine the impact of CCPA, the adjusted Climate Policy Uncertainty (CPU) index from the U.S., and the Economic Policy Uncertainty (EPU) index from China on the Chinese forest carbon stocks (FCS) comprehensively. On this basis, we are interested in clarifying the channels by which CCPA promotes the growth of forest carbon sequestration in China. Specifically, panel data from 30 provinces in China from 2000 to 2017 are used for empirical analysis, and the following results are obtained: (1) The baseline regression indicates that CCPA significantly promotes the growth of FCS, while CPU or EPU inhibits its growth. (2) The interactive regression shows that the effect of CCPA on the growth of FCS can mitigate the inhibiting impact of CPU or EPU. (3) Mediation analysis documents that CCPA promotes FCS growth by increasing the forest tending area, expanding the existing forest area, increasing renewable energy consumption, and improving green investment. (4) Heterogeneity analysis reveals a clear differentiation in the effect of CCPA on FCS under different situations. Finally, policy implications are proposed based on the results. This article is expected to provide a theoretical basis for the Chinese government to develop relevant policies from the perspective of promoting FCS growth.