By Wu Hong & Zhang Xiaohuan, Research Team on “China’s Carbon Emission Reduction Based on Different Benchmarks: Evaluation Theory and Path Selection”, Information Center, DRC

Research Report, No.129, 2019 (Total 5629) 2019-8-6

Abstract: This paper puts forward the life cycle theory of green economy and its evaluation and application method. First, the paper, based on the decoupled model, selects three key indicators including economy, energy and environment and proposes the basic descriptions and measurement of the life cycle theory by calculating their decoupled relations. The life cycle of green economy can be divided into two development types and six development phases and the decoupling status of each phase is evaluated. The two development types consist of the growth cycle and recession cycle of green economy. The growth cycle of green economy includes the initial phase, optimization phase and mature phase while the recession cycle includes the initial phase, deterioration phase and contraction phase. Second, the empirical research results show that in most of the years, the economy of Hebei province is in the optimization phase of the green economy growth cycle. The prospects of green economy are promising, but the development quality remains to be improved. In light of the above-mentioned analysis, the paper raises the following policy options. Efforts need to be made to gradually transform the economic development mode, adjust the structure of energy consumption in a reasonable way, change and optimize the industrial structure and constantly promote technological progress.

Key words: green economy, life cycle, policy options