Proceedings of the 2026 2nd International Conference on Financial Innovation and Marketing Management (FIMM 2026)

2026 2nd International Conference on Financial Innovation and Marketing Management (FIMM 2026)

📍Singapore, Singapore🗓️ 2-4 July 2026
<Previous Article In Volume
Next Article In Volume>

Climate Policy and Regional Inequality: A Comparative Analysis of the European Union and China

Authors
Xinhang Li1, *
1School of Tourism, Beijing Union University, Beijing, 100071, China
*Corresponding author. Email: 2025050382021@buu.edu.cn
Corresponding Author
Xinhang Li
Available Online 23 October 2026.
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-801-6_82How to use a DOI?
Keywords
Climate Policy; Regional Development; Carbon Neutrality; Governance Model; Comparative Analysis
Abstract

Climate policy has moved to the center of global governance debates. It sits at the intersection of emission reduction goals and regional economic realities, and the tension between those two things is genuinely complicated. This paper looks at how the European Union (EU) and China have approached that challenge, comparing their governance frameworks, the tools they rely on, and the uneven impacts those tools produce across different regions. The analysis shows that the EU has built a market-centered system around the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), backed by multi-level governance and what it calls “just transition” mechanisms; China, meanwhile, has taken a more hands-on, state-led approach, using policy experimentation and administrative intervention alongside gradually expanding market tools. In both cases, the regional effects are uneven, places with stronger technology bases and more diversified economies tend to come out ahead, while carbon-heavy, resource-dependent regions feel the pressure far more acutely. The paper also reflects on what purely qualitative analysis can and cannot tell us and suggests some directions for future research that takes a more quantitative approach.

Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Download article (PDF)

<Previous Article In Volume
Next Article In Volume>
Volume Title
Proceedings of the 2026 2nd International Conference on Financial Innovation and Marketing Management (FIMM 2026)
Series
Advances in Economics, Business and Management Research
Publication Date
23 October 2026
ISBN
978-94-6239-801-6
ISSN
2352-5428
DOI
10.2991/978-94-6239-801-6_82How to use a DOI?
Copyright
© 2026 The Author(s)
Open Access
Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

Cite this article

risenwbib
TY  - CONF
AU  - Xinhang Li
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/10/23
TI  - Climate Policy and Regional Inequality: A Comparative Analysis of the European Union and China
BT  - Proceedings of the 2026 2nd International Conference on Financial Innovation and Marketing Management (FIMM 2026)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 786
EP  - 796
SN  - 2352-5428
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6239-801-6_82
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6239-801-6_82
ID  - Li2026
ER  -