How can climate adaptation policy enhance urban climate resilience? Empirical evidence from China

PLOS One | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0335736 November 6, 2025 5 / 21 H1: The CACCP policy can directly enhance urban climate resilience. The United Nations Sustainable Development Goals agenda significantly emphasizes the role of green investments [26]. SDGs 12 and 13 seek to stimulate investment in climate finance, thereby ensuring a low-carbon and climate-resilient global transition [27]. The role of financial markets in mitigating climate risks encompasses the development of financial innovations, such as green bonds, and a ramp-up in climate-aware mutual funds [28]. Scholars have posited that green bonds and climate funds can help reduce carbon emissions by investing in green projects for clean energy, pollution abatement, and infrastructure [29,30]. Since China formally established its green bond market in 2015, it has experienced rapid growth. In a 2022 interview, Sean Kidney, CEO of the Climate Bonds Initiative, stated, “In the field of green bonds, China started from scratch and developed into the world’s second-largest market in less than a decade.” China has incorporated the implementation and advancement of green bonds into its 14th Five-Year Plan and considers green finance a crucial instrument for attaining the objectives of “carbon peak” and “carbon neutrality” [31,32]. Green bonds have also been instrumental in international and domestic climate finance, particularly China’s development of carbon neutrality bonds in 2021, which have recently

constituted over 45% of the green bond market. Some scholars have also presented theoretical analyses and empirical evidence suggesting that China’s green investment contributes to carbon emission reduction [33,34]. Based on the above analysis, we put forward the following research hypothesis. H2: The CACCP policy enhances urban climate resilience by using green bonds as a financial innovation tool. Human activities play a significant role in environmental issues such as anthropogenic climate change [35]. Education is a vital instrument for advancing human capital [36]. It delivers environmental curricula encompassing climate change mitigation, pollution abatement, and biodiversity conservation. Climate change curricula elucidate the mechanisms by which human activities impact Earth systems. Lessons on pollution and biodiversity loss expand comprehension of specific ecological disturbances [37]. Consequently, well-educated citizens demonstrate greater capacity to interpret and implement complex environmental policies [38]. Therefore, a higher level of education contributes to the better functioning of climate adaptation policies, and we propose the following research hypothesis. H3: The CACCP policy effect can be optimized by attaining a higher level of education. The theory of collective action postulates that the elevation of public consciousness can galvanize collective action and consolidate social power, thereby facilitating the implementation of environmental policies [39]. The theory of social capital

posits that heightened public environmental concerns can enhance social capital and foster a social atmosphere of shared values and responsibility, which is conducive to promoting environmental policies [40]. Due to China’s economic growth, there has been a discernible surge in public environmental consciousness and involvement in environmental governance [41], which has proven instrumental in implementing environmental policies in China [42,43]. Consequently, we put for- ward the following research hypothesis. H4: The CACCP policy effect can be enhanced by cultivating a greater sense of public environmental concern. Mineral resources are indispensable for sustaining human life and production. Nevertheless, a high reliance on fos- sil fuels will amplify the carbon footprint of urban areas, leading to environmental contamination and ecological dete- rioration, which, in turn, will impede or even stall regional economic growth. As postulated by economists [44,45], the resource curse phenomenon represents a potential consequence of this situation. Therefore, high dependence on min- eral resources for urban development is associated with heightened ecological pressure and vulnerability [46], rendering urban areas more susceptible to extreme climate events and impeding the advancement of climate adaptation strategies. Concurrently, a long-term economic development model that prioritizes the utilization of mineral resources will perpetuate the region’s reliance on a resource-based growth trajectory, hindering the implementation of strategies such as transi-

tioning to low-carbon energy [47]. Therefore, from a reverse perspective, reducing dependence on mineral resources in urban development will facilitate the implementation of climate adaptation strategies. We propose the following research hypothesis.