Unintended mitigation effect of air pollutant regulation on the aquatic cadmium: Evidence from the 11-FYPEP in China

• DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.167814
• Publication Date: 2023-10-15T21:45:13Z
• Authors: Guangfei Yang; Zitong Guo; Wenjun Wu; Shuai Shao; Xu Peng
• Keywords: 13. Climate action; 11. Sustainability; 7. Clean energy

This paper evaluates the unintended mitigation effect of air pollutant regulation on aquatic cadmium (Cd) emissions in the China's Eleventh Five-Year Plan for Environmental Protection (11-FYPEP), by employing a continuous Difference-in-Difference-in-Difference (DDD) estimator. We find that: (1) Although the 11-FYPEP did not target to reduce Cd emission, the implementation of 11-FYPEP reduced the emissions by 2.8 %. (2) The Cd emission is closely related to the industrial level, because the reduction of Cd is 6.1 % higher in areas with lower industrial output, and the mediating effect of the number of industrial enterprises accounts for 6.8 % of the Cd reduction. Based on our findings, implications like improving production efficiency and modifying industrial structure are proposed, as the 11-FYPEP achieves Cd reduction in an unsustainable way.