[Objective] The internal response relationship and mechanism of action among industrial development, carbon emission and land use in the Yangtze River economic belt were studied in order to provide ideas for regional coordinated development. [Methods] Based on the GM(1,1) prediction model, the grey prediction of industrial development, land use, and carbon emission index were determined. A coupling coordination analysis was carried out, and the panel vector autoregression (PVAR) model was applied to determine the response relationship among the three factors. [Results] ① The coupling degree among the regional factors was greater than the coordination degree, and the coupling coordination state showed an increasing trend. The trend within the region decreased from downstream to upstream. ② Land use intensity had a positive impact on industrial development in the first two periods, and industrial development had an inverted V-shaped fluctuation trend in which the impact on carbon emissions was first negative and then positive in the last two periods. Land use had an obvious positive impulse impact on carbon emissions. ③ The three factors mainly depended on their own development paths. However, the explanatory power of industrial development on carbon emission intensity was greater than that of land use intensity, and with the increase of the number of periods, the influence of both on carbon emissions tended to increase. [Conclusion] While industrial restructuring and land use allocation and protection are indispensable in the process of economic development, carbon emissions (as an important constraint in future development) can not be neglected. Determining the response relationships between the three factors can better provide a basis for coordinated regional development.