A Study On The Selection And Optimization Of Low-Carbon City Pilot Policies In China

The rapid development of the economy is accompanied by the increasingly serious global climate change problem.As the main place for human production and life,cities have become the main battlefield for carbon emission management.In order to achieve the "double carbon" goal of carbon peaking and carbon neutrality,low-carbon city pilot policies with the purpose of low energy consumption and low pollution came into being across the country.At the same time,in order to achieve the policy goal of low-carbon development,the specific use of policy tools has become a hot issue of academic concern.There are numerous and diverse types of cities in China,with significant differences in development levels and resource endowments.As a public policy that requires the participation of multiple parties,the selection of policy tools is crucial.Currently,there is relatively little literature in the academic community on the selection of policy tools for low-carbon city pilot projects.Based on the theory of policy tools,this article uses text analysis and comparative analysis to conduct in-depth research on the external attributes and content of policy texts.On the one hand,basic analysis is conducted based on the relevant policy documents released since the establishment of the low-carbon city construction goal,including the phased evolution of policy issuance,the distribution of policy languages,and the main structure.On the other hand,a two-dimensional analysis model of "policy tools control process" is constructed.In the X-policy tool dimension,the classification method of Howlett&Ramesh is adopted,and it is divided into three types according to the degree of state intervention:mandatory policy tools,mixed policy tools,and voluntary policy tools;In the Y-control process dimension,according to the entire process of environmental risk management,it is divided into prior control,in-process control,and post control.This article takes 68 prefecture-level cities within the scope of the pilot project as the research object,collects 76 policy texts issued by local governments from 2010 to 2022,selects 1227 pilot content related to low-carbon cities,and uses Nvivo12 software to conduct three-level coding on relevant policy texts,obtaining 2112 valid nodes,forming a text analysis data source,conduct a comprehensive analysis of the selection and application of policy tools for low-carbon city pilot projects in combination with coding frequency statistics.Research has found that local governments adopt diversified policy tools when formulating low-carbon city pilot policies,but the use of policy tools is uneven,with mandatory policy tools being the most commonly used and occupying a dominant position.In such tools,the government plays the role of top-level design,and can directly apply policy measures to the target group.However,there are problems such as unreasonable planning and design,insufficient highlighting of key issues,and vague policy provisions.Hybrid and voluntary policy tools can make up for the shortage of mandatory policy tools,but their proportion is relatively small.From the perspective of control process,in low-carbon environmental governance,the government tends to implement mandatory "front-end"controls,using various types of policy tools and increasing their frequency to help achieve the goals of low-carbon city construction.The government gathers resources from all parties and fully utilizes supportive policies,but lacks quantitative indicators and specific operational methods,inadequate supervision and guidance during the process,and flexible and powerful accountability tools.Based on the above conclusions,this article proposes policy optimization suggestions for the construction of low-carbon cities,optimizing the combination of policy tools based on mastering the characteristics of the tools,constructing a balanced application model of policy tools,improving the construction of supervision and inspection mechanisms for in-process control,increasing policy constraints,and strengthening collaborative governance to pool diverse main forces.