Abstract
•Emissions of pollutants (not including CO2) are monetized in terms of the pollutant discharge fee.•A considerable risk of emission spillovers between CO2 and other pollutants now exists in China.•More perfect option for future emissions reduction must be implemented without delay.
Environmental quality is strongly coupling with the result of emissions reduction in most countries, while emissions reduction is influenced by the diversity of control policies, engineering facilities and development patterns. Further, local in which technical or policy that concern the control of target emissions will impact other pollutants emission. In China, the emissions of both CO2 and other pollutants increased substantially during the past decades. With the development of emissions reduction, it promoted a considerable risk of emissions spillovers caused by the present mechanism. In this study, we assessed the contributions of emissions spillovers to emission reductions by applying a more comprehensive indicator of pollutants, pollutant discharge fee (PDF), at the national, regional and provincial levels. The results shown positive and significant mutual effect between the PDF and CO2 emissions. That is, CO2 emission is significantly related with the process of other pollutants emissions reduction. Additionally, the positive correlation indicated further increases with the Five-Year Plan (FYP) cycle. Emissions spillovers have become an urgent risk for China. With the performance change, emissions reduction and environmental governance should heighten integration. Regional-level and provincial authorities must reconsider the matched emissions sustainability responsibilities and policies to avoid emissions spillovers and achieve meaningful emission controls. The study therefore suggested that a hierarchy of emission reductions, in the hope to promote emission reductions, improve environmental quality and contribute greenhouse gas reductions.