Social Media, Artificial Intelligence and Carbon Neutrality

This research topic looks at the focus of the general public and professionals on carbon-neutral cities, how short science videos can influence people's environmental willingness, how to establish an environmental dynamic monitoring system for waste incineration power plants, the effect of digital economy on carbon emission intensity, the impact of social media legitimacy pressure on corporate carbon disclosure, the changes in innovation behaviour of heavily polluting firms in China, and the impact of heterogeneous environmental regulations on urban green innovation in China.

• The most popular topics on Weibo and LinkedIn regarding carbon-neutral cities were "energy" and related issues, with LinkedIn users mentioning "climate" and "sustainability" most often.
• The content features of short science videos can positively influence people's environmental willingness through emotional evocation and perceptual fit.
• An economic compensation plan was developed for the surrounding residents of waste incineration power plants, using the Analytic Hierarchy Process to consider the pollutants.
• Digital economy has a significant inhibitory effect on carbon emission intensity, depending on the level of technological development and environmental regulation.
• Social media legitimacy pressure significantly increases corporate carbon disclosure, but this effect is weakened by substantive corporate internal carbon management measures.
• China is gradually increasing carbon management, but there are uneven development and differences in the number of carbon management measures implemented between regions.
• The "smog explosion" event had a significant net negative effect on the innovation behavior of heavily polluting firms, with a significant decrease in their innovation inputs.
• Foreign trade, technological progress, and carbon emissions all have their own "economic inertia" that can be self-motivated and self-reinforcing.
• The effectiveness of environmental regulation implementation should be improved in order to achieve the desired impact on urban green innovation.