Land use change is the main driving force of regional carbon emissions change, and revealing the impact of land use change on carbon emissions is instructive for the formulation of carbon emission policies. However, research on the impact of land use change on carbon emissions in areas with rapid economic development is still limited. Taking Anhui Province as objective, this study evaluated the net carbon emissions from the perspective of carbon source/sink based on the land use change from 2000 to 2020, analyzed the spatio-temporal characteristics of carbon emissions, and clarified the carbon emission effect from the aspects of carbon footprint, ecological carrying capacity and ecological deficit. The results showed that: (1) During 2000 to 2020, the net carbon emissions from land use in Anhui Province increased, with an average annual increase of 5 039 200 tons. Forest was the main carbon sink, but the amount of carbon sinks varied little from year to year. Construction land was the main carbon source, with an average annual increase of 5 113 700 tons. (2) During 2000 to 2020, the carbon source change area was mainly distributed in the central and northern plain area of Anhui Province, and the carbon sink change area was mainly distributed in the mountainous of southwest. Furthermore, the central and northern area of Anhui Province was the hottest areas of the carbon emission intensity changes. (3) Among the carbon emission effects caused by carbon source/sink changes, the ecological carrying capacity did not change much from 2000 to 2020, but the carbon footprint and ecological deficit increased, with an annual increase rate of 6.2% and 8.7%, respectively. Therefore, the central and northern plain area of Anhui province was the key control area for implementing carbon emission reduction. Meanwhile, reducing the construction land and increasing forest area could effectively adjust the carbon emission effect in study area.