Top-down or bottom-up? Government policies, public awareness and carbon reduction

Environmental governance approaches are critical for carbon reduction and energy security. Using the data from government work reports and public search, this paper investigates the impact of government policies and public awareness on carbon emissions. The ‘top-down’ administrative regulation is found to have more effective in promoting carbon reduction in cities than ‘bottom-up’ public awareness, and this carbon reduction effect is more pronounced in central, western and lower levels of economic development cities. The findings suggest that regions with higher economic development tend to exhibit greater dependency on carbon, posing challenges in achieving prompt reductions in carbon emissions through governmental policies and public awareness. Additional discoveries indicate that ‘top-down’ administrative regulation exhibits a certain sustainability, mainly through industrial structure adjustments. This aspect proves beneficial for enhancing the city's developmental path and quality in the long term.