The synergetic effects of government concerns and public awareness on environmental protection

Environmental governance system involves both government and public participation, but its effectiveness remains unclear. This study utilizes balanced panel data of 281 cities in China covering the period of 2011–2023 to conduct empirical analysis from the perspective of government and public forces working together. It provides new evidence about the effectiveness of China’s environmental governance system. The findings reveal that the synergetic effect of government environmental concerns and public environmental awareness inhibits carbon emissions and haze pollution, with green innovation, environmental regulation, and green bonds as the transmission channels. Further analysis indicates that the synergetic effect is more significant in regions with high levels of digitization and digital finance. The synergetic effect also exhibits significant spatial spillover effects, effectively inhibiting surrounding areas’ carbon emissions and haze pollution. These findings have important policy implications for strengthening the collaborative mechanism between the government and the public, smoothing pathways for synergetic effect, accelerating digitization and digital finance development, and establishing cross-regional collaborative governance systems.