Impact of Information-Based New Infrastructure on Carbon Emissions: Evidence from Cross-Country Panel Data

Global warming is becoming increasingly serious, and carbon emission reduction is urgent. With the boom in digital technology, new infrastructure offers a new path to reduce carbon emissions. Using data from 61 "Belt and Road" countries from 2010 to 2020, this paper discusses the impact of information-based new infrastructure (NI) on carbon emissions (CE). The conclusions are as follows: (1) NI effectively reduces carbon emissions, and the technical level and environmental protection intensity play a significant positive moderating role in this process. (2) Mechanism analysis finds that NI reduces carbon emissions by optimizing the energy structure and reducing energy intensity. (3) When business environment and financial development are used as threshold variables, NI has a single threshold effect on CE, and its driving trend changes from "positive" to "negative". (4) The inhibitory effect of NI on CE is more obvious in countries with low economic development, countries with severe natural disasters, countries with strong innovation capabilities, and countries with poor air quality. Our conclusions have significance for the coordinated development of digitalization and greening in the "Belt and Road" countries.