An empirical assessment of the impact of digital economy and environmental regulation on regional water resources efficiency in the context of COP26

The 26th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) highlighted the importance of nuclear techniques in mitigating the impact of climate change on water resources, and improvements in water efficiency were considered an important step towards the achievement of the COP26 goals. We selected the super-efficiency SBM method to measure water resource utilization efficiency between the period of 2007 and 2020, and we focused on the relationship between the digital economy and water resource use efficiency (WRE). Conclusions as follows: (1) China's water resource use efficiency value is 0.441. The water resource use efficiency in the eastern region is the highest, and that in the western region is the lowest. (2) The digital economy can significantly promote the improvement of water resource use efficiency in the whole country and the eastern region. The impact of the digital economy on water resource use efficiency in the central region is not significant, and that in the western region is inhibitory. (3) In addition to the central region, environmental regulations in the east, west, and the whole country have made positive contributions to the efficiency of green water resource use. (4) Economic development promotes WRE in the whole country, the east, and the middle, but not in the west. The impact of industry on WRE is always negative. The impact of technological progress on WRE in the central and western regions and the whole country is not significant, but the impact in the eastern region is positive. The level of opening to the outside world has no significant impact on the WRE of the eastern region, but negative impact on the WRE of other regions. Abundance of water resources has a negative impact on WRE in all regions.

Automated summary

This study examines the water resource utilization efficiency in China and explores the impact of the digital economy on water resource use efficiency. The findings indicate that the eastern region has the highest water resource utilization efficiency, while the western region has the lowest. The digital economy has a positive impact on water resource use efficiency in the whole country and the eastern region, but the impact is not significant in the central region and inhibitory in the western region. Additionally, environmental regulations have made positive contributions to the improvement of green water resource use efficiency.