Green inventions and greenhouse gas emission dynamics: A close examination of provincial Italian data

Eco-innovation plays a crucial role in reducing carbon emissions. Exploiting the consolidated IPAT / STIRPAT framework, this paper studies whether a relationship exists between green technological change and both CO2 emissions and emission efficiency (CO2/VA), exploiting a rich panel covering 95 Italian provinces from 1990-2010. The main regression results suggest that green technology has not yet played a significant role in promoting environmental protection, although it significantly improved significantly environmental productivity. Notably, this result is not driven by regional differences, and the main evidence is consistent among different areas of the country.