Do carbon emissions accelerate low-carbon innovation? Evidence from 285 Chinese prefecture-level cities

Climate change caused by carbon emissions has a strong influence on the economy and human society. Though numerous previous studies have emphasized the importance of low-carbon innovation on curbing or mitigating carbon emissions, not much attention has been given to the reverse effect. We used a panel of 285 Chinese prefecture-level cities from 2005 to 2016 and Cooperative Patent Classification (CPC)-Y02 patents as low-carbon innovation indicators. The results show that the increasing carbon emissions accelerate cities’ low-carbon innovation in China, and the predicted effect varies across low-carbon innovation types. As carbon emissions rise, more low-carbon innovation will occur in activities with higher carbon emissions. Besides, we explore environmental awareness as the mediation channel for carbon emissions to impact low-carbon innovation. With the help of media, government, and enterprises, the growing carbon emissions promote public environmental awareness and change consumers’ behaviors, motivating companies to speed up low-carbon innovation.