The “dual-carbon” goal, a significant strategic decision for China in response to global climate change, is crucial in promoting comprehensive green transformation and achieving sustainable development in the economy and society. Agricultural carbon emissions, as a major source of greenhouse gases, occupy a pivotal position in carbon emissions. Given China’s status as an agricultural powerhouse, agricultural carbon emissions cannot be ignored. Therefore, how to reduce agricultural carbon emissions will be one of the important contents of China’s future green and sustainable development of agriculture. Existing literature has insufficiently analyzed agricultural carbon reduction from the perspective of land transfer and lacks consensus. Additionally, studies have not explored the effects of different transfer objects and forms on agricultural carbon emissions, which are essential aspects of land transfer. This paper utilizes the panel data of 30 provinces in China from 2011 to 2021 and empirically analyzes the relationship between the transfer of agricultural land and agricultural carbon emissions at the macro level by using a two-way fixed-effects model. It is found that the transfer of agricultural land contributes to agricultural carbon emission reduction; the transfer of agricultural land can reduce agricultural carbon emissions by reducing the intensity of agricultural chemical inputs and the intensity of agricultural machinery inputs, as well as by adjusting the planting structure; in addition, further analysis reveals that the different transfer objects and transfer forms will have different impacts on agricultural carbon emissions. When transfer objects are cooperatives, the transfer has a significant negative impact on agricultural carbon emissions, and when transfer objects are farmers and enterprises, the transfer has no significant impact on agricultural carbon emissions. Meanwhile, the transfer in the form of joint-stock cooperation has a significant negative impact on agricultural carbon emissions, while the transfer in the form of leasing and subcontracting, swap and transfer does not have a significant impact on agricultural carbon emissions. Compared with the existing literature, this paper expands in two aspects: first, it explores and analyzes the mechanism of agricultural land transfer on agricultural carbon emissions; second, it explores the different impacts of three kinds of transferring objects and four kinds of transferring forms on agricultural carbon emissions from the two new perspectives of objects and forms of transferring agricultural land, which further enriches the content of the transfer of agricultural land and agricultural carbon emissions. The research in this paper, to a certain extent, clarifies the logical linkage between land transfer and agricultural carbon emissions and will help to develop a more scientific agricultural land transfer policy, optimize the structure of agricultural planting, reduce agricultural carbon emissions, and promote the sustainable development of agriculture. Additionally, it provides empirical evidence for achieving the “dual carbon” goals and offers scientific theoretical support for the green and low-carbon development of China’s agriculture.