Research on the Impact of Market-Based Environmental Regulation Policies on Ecological Pressure: Evidence from China’s Carbon Emissions Trading Pilot

In the process of China’s path to modernization, the concept of harmonious coexistence between man and nature has become increasingly prominent. In the dual context of the development of human society and the improvement of ecological wellbeing, how to reasonably exert environmental regulation policies to actively address the problem of ecological overload has become an important challenge that we need to face urgently. Therefore, based on the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2005 to 2021, this paper uses the three-dimensional ecological footprint model to evaluate the degree of interference of human activities on the ecological level and selects the difference-in-differences model to examine the impact of external policy shocks, namely, a carbon emissions trading pilot (CETP) policy, on ecological pressure and its transmission mechanism. The results show that moderate government intervention, unified market regulation, and positive industrial response jointly enhance the mitigation effect of CETP on ecological pressure. In areas with strong environmental regulation and a high level of green credit, the incentive effect of the carbon trading mechanism is more significant. In the context of the transformation from industrial civilization to ecological civilization, the findings provide practical guidance and paths for how regions and enterprises can effectively respond to CETP and how governments, markets, and industries can jointly reduce the ecological pressure on the environment.