Research on the Coupled and Coordinated Development of Green Finance and Low-Carbon Economy: Evidence from Central and Eastern Provinces in China

Abstract

Against the backdrop of intensifying global climate change and the continued advancement of China’s Carbon Peaking and Carbon Neutrality Goals, green finance and the low-carbon economy have become two core systems driving green economic transformation and high-quality development. Taking 16 provinces in eastern and central China as the research objects, this paper focuses on the interactive relationship between green finance and the low-carbon economy, constructs a comprehensive evaluation framework, and employs the entropy method and the coupling coordination degree model to analyze the development levels and synergistic status of the two systems in the sample regions from 2010 to 2022. The results show that: (1) the coupling coordination degree between green finance and the low-carbon economy generally exhibits an evolutionary pattern characterized by continuous improvement with slight local fluctuations, and the overall level in 2022 is significantly higher than that in 2010; (2) from a temporal perspective, the coupled and coordinated development of green finance and the low-carbon economy has roughly undergone three stages, namely the initial cultivation stage, the steady growth stage, and the rapid advancement stage, among which the improvement after 2020 is the most significant; (3) from a spatial perspective, Zhejiang, Tianjin, and Beijing are at relatively high levels, whereas Henan exhibits characteristics of relative stagnation in the low-carbon economy, rapid growth in green finance, but a mismatch between the two systems. Based on the findings, this paper proposes promoting green finance innovation by category, optimizing the layout of low-carbon industries, and strengthening regional policy coordination, so as to provide support for achieving the Dual Carbon Goals.