Abstract
The present study analyses the factors for higher carbon emissions in Chinese provinces. The distinguishing point of this study is the inclusion of forest investment and forest area to examine whether forest is a carbon sink or a source. The estimated results have confirmed that simply increasing the forest area is not a constructive approach to mitigate carbon emissions. Whilst the empirical results have reported that higher forest investment is a useful strategy to reduce the carbon concentration in the environment. By taking account of the results, the central government, and local administrations should take swift action to properly manage and regularly maintain the forests. In addition, the government should form strict laws on deforestation and issue limited licenses if deforestation is necessary, but on the condition that twice the number of trees are planted to replace those cut down.