Intelligentization and greenization policies empowering the low-carbon transition of carbon-intensive enterprises: Evidence from smart city and low-carbon city pilots

Coordinated progress in reducing carbon emissions, decreasing pollution, protecting the environment, and boosting the economy is the fundamental requirement for sustainable, low-carbon, and superior development. Carbon-intensive firms’ transition is the top priority for addressing weaknesses, consolidating foundations for upgrading, and optimizing and upgrading traditional industries. Using panel data of carbon-intensive A-share listed firms between 2013 and 2023, the impact and mechanisms of intelligentization and greenization policies on these companies’ transition to low-carbon operations are empirically examined in this research. The results show that intelligentization and greenization policies contribute to lowering the CO₂ emissions and intensity of carbon-intensive firms, and the conclusion remains robust after excluding the interference of relevant factors. Specifically, these policies significantly curtail CO₂ emissions through improving the development of eco-finance and the coupling capacity of enterprise innovation. The impact is especially noticeable in companies with better business environments and those with high level of industrial structure. Further investigation reveals that the in-depth integration of intelligentization and greenization yields emission reduction co-benefits. Economic consequence analyses show that the low-carbon transition of carbon-intensive firms driven by intelligentization and greenization reduces supply chain risks and enhances sustainable development capabilities. This research offers useful policy implications for promoting the decarbonization of high-emission corporations.