Publications
Been very busy lately, not able to cope with updating for personal pages and publications. The latest papers, please refer to my Google Scholar, which Google kindly collected it for me.
Food consumption pattern and carbon footprint of online food delivery in China
This study uses text mining and life cycle assessment to analyze online food delivery consumption patterns and carbon footprint in China. Takeaway food consumes 20% more meat than home cooking with 53% larger carbon footprint. Animal-based food accounts for 46% of takeaway consumption. Adopting Chinese Dietary Guidelines could reduce takeaway carbon footprints by 73-84%.
Tracing carbon flow to unravel carbon lock-in in China through a supernetwork-based perspective for targeted decarbonization
This study develops a carbon flow supernetwork integrating multi-regional input-output analysis with supernetwork theory to trace emission generation, transmission, and intermediation across China’s regions and sectors. The framework identifies carbon lock-in structures that conventional mitigation strategies overlook, revealing key intermediary nodes for targeted decarbonization toward carbon neutrality.
China’s petrochemical plants’ CO2 emissions and high-impact contributors for carbon-neutrality production
The petrochemical sector accounted for 15% of global industrial direct CO2 emissions in 2021, with China contributing 43% of global chemical output and therefore being central to climate-change mitigation efforts. However, the lack of China-specific, process-based assessments has constrained targeted strategies. Here, we present a comprehensive CO2 emissions analysis of 3119 petrochemical plants in China, capturing variations across 123 products, 185 processes, feedstocks, energy use, and product relationships within production chains. We estimate annual emissions at 813. 7 million tonnes (Mt) CO2 (±25%) in 2021, offering refined region-specific details beyond previous global or national assessments.
An LCA-assisted hierarchical design of radiative cooling coating for full life-cycle CO2 reduction
Reducing CO2 emissions throughout a product’s life cycle, mainly encompassing four stages of raw materials extraction, processing, service, and end of life, is essential for carbon neutrality. Passive daytime radiative cooling coatings offer CO2 reduction benefits, but primarily only during service stage. Life cycle assessment demonstrates maximized full life-cycle CO2 reduction requires innovations in both raw materials extraction and service periods. Here, we develop a full life‑cycle carbon‑negative passive daytime radiative cooling coating, achieving 0. 571 ~ 13. 709 tons of CO2-equivalent reduction per ton over its lifespan across all climate zones compared to the commercial reflective cooling baseline, equivalent to planting 32 ~ 762 trees annually.
Plant-Level Health Benefits from Decarbonizing the Iron and Steel Industry in China
Decarbonizing the iron and steel industry (ISI) reduces air pollutant emissions, yielding substantial public health cobenefits. Existing assessments fail to account for plant-level heterogeneity in production routes and geographic settings─critical determinants of health impacts─hindering the formulation of targeted decarbonization strategies that maximize health gains. Here, by integrating a facility-level emission inventory with inverse atmospheric modeling, we estimate that the Chinese ISI emits 1. 56 Pg of CO2 and 0. 85 Tg of PM2. 5 annually, with 147,000 (IQR: 121,000-184,000) annual PM2. 5-attributable premature deaths linked to ISI emissions, and the health burdens varying by 77,500-fold across individual plants.
Carbon dioxide removal potential of biochar with biomass supply from bioenergy crops in China
Abstract Biochar and bioenergy crop cultivation with carbon capture and storage (BECCS) are two major negative emission technologies for carbon dioxide removal (CDR). However, biochar production is limited by biomass supply, while BECCS depends on costly CCS infrastructure and faces storage constraints. Here, a novel combination of biochar with biomass supply from dedicated bioenergy crops (BCBE) is proposed to overcome their respective limitations. Through retrofitting current biomass power plants in China with pyrolysis systems or CCS, biomass power plants are assumed to use either residues from agriculture and forestry or from dedicated bioenergy crops on abandoned croplands to meet their capacity for biochar production.
Asymmetrical resource behaviors shape key leverage points for sustainability synergies and trade-offs across China’s food supply chain
Summary Ensuring global food security requires understanding fine-scale sustainability trade-offs and synergies within food supply chains (FSCs). Here, we develop a supernetwork framework that refines analysis to detailed FSC activities by incorporating China’s 92 region-sector-product nodes to diagnose resource consumption, efficiency dynamics, and systemic interactions. The analysis shows pronounced asymmetries in resource behaviors across China’s FSCs. By 2050, 87. 10%–96. 77% of regions will rely on planetary boundary transgressions for water or land use to meet food demands. The most resource-intensive 1% of activities, typically western pork production and coastal soybean trade, drive a disproportionate 12.
Construction activities drive half of China’s ambient PM2.5 health burden
Construction activities generate substantial air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions, contributing heavily to ambient PM2. 5 exposure and associated mortality worldwide. In China, rapid urbanization has driven a massive expansion of the construction sector, with emissions arising from building material production, onsite operations, upstream supply chains, and operational energy use in buildings. Although end-of-pipe controls have markedly lowered pollutant emissions since 2013, further reductions are increasingly costly, and air quality and climate policies remain poorly integrated. The full lifecycle health burden imposed by construction-related air pollution, its temporal evolution, and the scope for health co-benefits from decarbonization-particularly across urban and rural divides-have been incompletely characterized.
China’s Provincial Multi-Regional Input-Output Database for 2018 and 2020
China Provincial Multi-regional Input-Output Database for 2018 and 2020
The 2025 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change
According to the World Meteorological Organization (WMO), 2024 was the hottest year on record. China had unprecedented heat and heavy precipitation, with a national average temperature of 10·9°C, 1·01°C higher than the historical average (1991–2020), and annual precipitation of 697·7 mm, which is 9·0% higher than the average. As 2025 marks the 10th anniversary of the Paris Agreement and a key juncture for submitting new contributions, accelerating global climate action is imperative, especially in cities, which account for 58% of the world’s population and 70% of total carbon emissions.
CO2 emission and socioeconomic inventories of Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and surrounding cities 2000-2022
The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is a leading economic region and a pilot demonstration region of carbon peaking in China. The city-level time-series CO2 emission inventories of the GBA region are crucial for the formulation of policies on climate change mitigation pathways. However, the region lacked a consistent and comparable time-series city-level CO2 emissions inventory dataset. In this study, we provided CO2 emission and socioeconomic inventories of the GBA cities and their surrounding twelve Guangdong cities from 2000 to 2022. The CO2 emission inventories were compiled by 47 economic sectors, 17 types of fossil fuels, and four industrial processes.
Aviation passenger carbon footprint calculator with comprehensive emissions, life cycle coverage, and historical adjustment
Passenger aviation carbon footprint calculators often lack breadth, accuracy, transparency, and communication effectiveness, leading to underestimations of environmental impact and mistrust. This study addresses these gaps by developing a comprehensive methodology that broadens scope and improves accuracy. It incorporates nitrogen oxides, water vapour, contrail-induced cloudiness, upstream emissions from in-flight services, and life cycle emissions from aircraft and airports, offering a complete carbon footprint assessment. Accuracy is improved through detailed modelling of flight distance, fuel consumption, and emissions allocation adjusted for passenger class, luggage, and cargo. Historical adjustment factors refine pre-flight estimates by integrating real-world variations.
Technological pathways for cost-effective steel decarbonization
The iron and steel sector is central to national net-zero efforts but remains hard to abate1,2. Existing decarbonization roadmaps fail to guide technology choices for individual plants, given their heterogeneity and economic constraints3-5. Here, by integrating two global plant-level datasets and forecasted technology costs, we develop a model to identify the least-cost technology pathway for each plant worldwide in alignment with national carbon-neutrality targets. In the short term (pre-2030), energy efficiency improvements and scrap reuse are the cheapest decarbonization strategies, reducing cumulative global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by 7. 8 Gt and 7.
A building-scale modeling framework for urban net-zero transitions in Nanjing
Carbon reduction during the operational phase of buildings is a critical component in achieving global carbon neutrality objectives. Current emission estimation methods often overlook building-level heterogeneity, limiting precise retrofit strategies. Here, we develop a building-based emissions accounting framework incorporating building typology, function, and geometry, augmented by facility-level power plant data. We propose tailored operational-phase mitigation technologies, analyzing 2020-2050 pathways through baseline, regulatory, and blueprint scenarios. Demand-side strategies target energy behavior modification (e. g. , efficient lighting), while supply-side interventions prioritize coal-to-biomass conversion and fossil plant retirement. Applied to Nanjing (534,000 buildings across 101 streets), results show commercial buildings exhibit 3.
Global methane footprints growth and drivers 1990-2023
Methane has been identified as the second-largest contributor to climate change, accounting for approximately 30% of global warming. Countries have established targets and are implementing various measures to curb methane emissions. However, our understanding of the trends in methane emissions and their drivers remains limited, particularly from a consumption perspective (i. e. accounting for all emissions along the entire global supply chain). This study investigates the most recent dynamics of methane emissions across 120 sectors from both production and consumption viewpoints in 164 countries. It also discusses the status of decoupling of production- and consumption-based methane emissions from economic growth.
Transboundary conflict from surface water scarcity under climate change
Transboundary river basins (TRBs) are at risk of water scarcity-induced conflicts, especially given the rising water demand and impacts of climate change. Despite extensive efforts and some progress, the mechanisms linking water scarcity to conflicts in TRBs remain insufficiently understood, and identifying effective mitigation and adaptation strategies remains a challenge. In this study, we introduce a framework for predicting TRBs vulnerable to water scarcity-induced conflicts, based on the concept of water dependency, defined by monthly water scarcity. This framework successfully explains over 80% of the TRBs experiencing water scarcity-induced conflicts during 2005-2014.
Field-theory inspired physics-informed graph neural network for reliable traffic flow prediction under urban flooding
The increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather events, particularly rainfall-induced urban flooding, pose significant challenges to urban transportation systems, affecting public safety, economic productivity, and overall quality of urban life. Traditional traffic prediction methods, while effective under normal conditions, struggle to maintain reliability during flood events. Recent advancements in artificial intelligence, despite showing promise, face critical limitations in handling data scarcity during flooding conditions, generalising to unprecedented scenarios, and providing interpretable predictions for emergency decision-making. This research proposes a novel Physics-Informed Graph Neural Network (PINN-GNN) model for predicting urban traffic flows specifically under rainfall conditions ranging from light precipitation to heavy rainfall events, which can lead to urban flooding impacts.
A global inventory of methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas wells and possible mitigation pathways
Methane emissions from abandoned oil and gas (AOG) wells are significant but poorly quantified, contributing to uncertainties in global greenhouse gas inventories and hindering progress toward net-zero emission targets. In fact, the actual level of methane emissions from AOG wells worldwide and the geological characteristics of the wells remain poorly understood. Here, we develop a resource-type-specific, comprehensive inventory of methane emissions from 4. 5 million AOG wells across 127 countries as of 2022, including detailed well-level data for 420 000 wells (9% of the total). We estimate global methane emissions from AOG wells at 0.
Water-saving strategies across prefectures should target the manufacturing and agriculture sectors in China
Abstract Water scarcity is a global challenge in many emerging economies, including China. China is one of the most extensive freshwater users and has set water efficiency improvement goals for 2030 at the prefecture level. However, no systematic water use and savings comparison exists across prefectures and sectors. Here, we used datasets of water withdrawal for 10,608 industrial and 1715 agricultural sub-sectors for 343 prefectures, and explored the opportunities to reduce water use. Results show that 10% of the least water-efficient industrial sub-sectors represent a disproportionate 46% water use. 18.
An inter-city input-output database distinguishing firm ownership in the Greater China area during 2002-2017
Most multi-region input-output (MRIO) tables in China focus on provinces or urban agglomerations and ignore the tremendous geographical heterogeneities of economic activities across Chinese prefectural cities, where regional economic centres are usually located for domestic and global production. This paper constructs an inter-city input-output (IO) database with 42 sectors in the Greater China area. Compared with previous MRIO tables, it has three important features: (1) A complete coverage of Chinese cities, including 335 prefectural cities, four municipalities, and Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan; (2) Distinguishes three types of firm ownership for every city and sector for four benchmark years; (3) A novel data completion approach to reconcile all accessible micro-level data with city and provincial-level aggregate statistics, and effectively combining the bottom-up and top-down methods commonly used in the MRIO compilation literature.
Inclusive wealth growth pathways within the carbon peak target for Chinese cities
China is committed to the Sustainable Development Agenda and peaking its carbon emissions by 2030. However, interactions between these two agendas and pathways to achieving both remain understudied. This study assesses the sustainability performances and carbon emission patterns of Chinese cities and analyzes their interplay. To measure sustainability, we adopt the Inclusive Wealth Index framework that looks at the productive base of an economy, including produced capital, human capital, and natural capital. The results reveal that several national demonstration zones achieve sustainable peaking in correspondence with declining emissions and increasing sustainability from 2012 to 2019, driven by industrial transformation, education improvement, and renewable resources growth.
Global soil methane uptake estimated by scaling up local measurements
Aerobic soils remove methane from the atmosphere, but global soil methane uptake (SMU) estimates remain highly uncertain due to challenges in scaling local data. We develop a data-driven approach to refine this global estimate by incorporating local data of 79,800 flux measurements from 198 sites. This novel approach links the global SMU budget to local SMU fluxes by varying its parameters with soil properties. Our 2003-2018 global SMU estimate is ~39. 0 Tg CH4 year-1-about 30% higher than existing bottom-up estimates and consistent with top-down assessments. Cold grasslands and deserts were found to contribute nearly 30% of the total SMU, while disturbed agricultural biomes have the lowest SMU.
Global carbon emissions and decarbonization in 2024
This study provides a comprehensive assessment of global carbon emissions and decarbonization progress in 2024. It analyzes emission trends across major economies, tracks progress toward climate targets, and evaluates the effectiveness of current mitigation policies in achieving global decarbonization objectives under the Paris Agreement framework.
Different technology packages for aluminium smelters worldwide to deliver the 1.5°C target
Abstract Production of aluminium, one of the most energy-intensive metals, is challenging for mitigation efforts. Regional mitigation strategies often neglect the emissions patterns of individual smelters and fail to guide aluminium producers’ efforts to reduce GHG emissions. Here we build a global aluminium GHG emissions inventory (CEADs-AGE), which includes 249 aluminium smelters, representing 98% of global primary aluminium production and 280 associated fossil fuel-based captive power units. We find, despite the installation of more efficient and higher amperage cells, that the share of aluminium production powered by fossil fuel-based captive power units increased from 37% to 49% between 2012 and 2021.
The 2024 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change
This report tracks how climate change is affecting health in China and quantifies rising heat exposure, extreme-weather losses, and associated economic burdens.
Enormous inter-country inequality of embodied carbon emissions and its driving forces in South America
• South America’s carbon emissions as producer and consumer during 2015–2019. • Tracing the emission flows from the aspects of export and import. • The share of developing countries in trade-related emissions continuously climbs. • Brazil is the only net-exporter, and Colombia is the largest net-importer. • Energy intensity offsets the rise in per capita consumption emissions. South America is a crucial developing region under significant pressure to reduce emissions and achieve carbon neutrality. This study fills a vital gap by comprehensively analysing the continent’s carbon emissions from both production and consumption perspectives.
Embodied CO2 emissions of equity portfolios for Chinese asset managers
The 2015 Paris Agreement has set out the climate change target of limiting global warming to 1. 5 °C, which poses a serious challenge to countries to reduce emissions. As the world’s largest carbon emitter, promoting the realization of the “dual-carbon” goal is the key to realizing China’s green transformation and high-quality development. Chinese asset managers play active roles in the capital market as an important channel of asset allocation. Currently, the vast majority of Chinese asset managers hold high percentages of high-carbon industries in their portfolios, and lack quantitative data of their carbon footprints embodied in equity investments, which faces huge carbon-related risks.
Decreasing greenhouse gas emissions from the municipal solid waste sector in Chinese cities
Municipal solid waste (MSW) management systems play a crucial role in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in China. Although the government has implemented many policies to improve the MSW management system, the impact of these improvements on city-level GHG emission reduction remains largely unexplored. This study conducted a comprehensive analysis of both direct and downstream GHG emissions from the MSW sector, encompassing sanitary landfill, dump, incineration, and biological treatment, across 352 Chinese cities from 2001 to 2021 by adopting inventory methods recommended by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). The results reveal that (1) GHG emissions from the MSW sector in China peaked at 70.
The carbon footprint of fast fashion consumption and mitigation strategies
Fast fashion is driving the continued growth of the fashion industry’s carbon emissions. Understanding how fast fashion consumption exacerbates carbon emissions is critical to guide mitigation strategies for the fashion industry. Taking jeans, a typical fast fashion product as an example, this study developed an LCA model to assess the carbon footprint of fast fashion consumption at global and national levels, and mitigation potentials of product service systems-related scenarios were then explored. Results show that the carbon footprint of fast fashion consumption is 2. 50 kgCO2e/one wear jeans, 11 times higher than that of traditional fashion consumption.
City level water withdrawal and scarcity accounts of China
In the context of China’s freshwater crisis high-resolution data are critical for sustainable water management and economic growth. Yet there is a dearth of data on water withdrawal and scarcity regardless of whether total or subsector amount, for prefectural cities. In administrative and territorial scope, we accounted for water withdrawal of all 63 economic-socio-environmental sectors for all 343 prefectural cities in China, based on a general framework and 2015 data. Spatial and economic-sector resolution is improved compared with previous studies by partitioning general sectors into industrial and agricultural sub-sectors. Construction of these datasets was based on selection of 16 driving forces.
Revisiting Copenhagen climate mitigation targets
Abstract Many economies set climate mitigation targets for 2020 at the 2009 15th Conference of the Parties conference of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Copenhagen. Yet no retrospective review of the implementation and actual mitigation associated with these targets has materialized. Here we track the national CO 2 emissions from both territory and consumption (trade adjusted) perspectives to assess socioeconomic factors affecting changes in emissions. Among the 34 countries analysed, 12 failed to meet their targets (among them Portugal, Spain and Japan) and 7 achieved the target for territorial emissions, albeit with carbon leakage through international trade to meet domestic demand while increasing emissions in other countries.
China carbon emission accounts 2020-2021
In the past a few years, the outbreak of the COVID-19 epidemic has significantly changed global emission patterns and increased the challenges in emission reduction. However, a comprehensive analysis of the most recent trends of China’s carbon emissions has not been conducted due to a lack of up-to-date emission accounts by regions and sectors. This study compiles the latest CO2 emission inventories for China and its 30 provinces during the epidemic (2020−2021), following the administrative-territorial approach from the International Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Our inventories cover energy-related emissions from 17 types of fossil fuel combustion and cement production across 47 economic sectors.
Global supply chains amplify economic costs of future extreme heat risk
Evidence shows a continuing increase in the frequency and severity of global heatwaves1,2, raising concerns about the future impacts of climate change and the associated socioeconomic costs3,4. Here we develop a disaster footprint analytical framework by integrating climate, epidemiological and hybrid input-output and computable general equilibrium global trade models to estimate the midcentury socioeconomic impacts of heat stress. We consider health costs related to heat exposure, the value of heat-induced labour productivity loss and indirect losses due to economic disruptions cascading through supply chains. Here we show that the global annual incremental gross domestic product loss increases exponentially from 0.
Emission accounting and drivers in South American countries
: Committed to achieving carbon neutrality by mid-century, South America faces unique challenges in carbon mitigation due to its distinct socio-economic, technological, and institutional backgrounds compared to developed and other developing economies. Previous research on South America’s carbon emissions has limited country and sector coverage and typically adopts a top-down approach that focuses on the overall emissions of an economy, neglecting individual energy sources and emission sectors. Therefore, this paper compiles a comprehensive inventory of CO 2 emissions for South American countries based on a meticulous bottom-up approach and multi-source data integration, followed by a thorough analysis of their temporal evolution patterns and the driving forces behind them.
Risks associated with global warming of 1.5 to 4°C above pre-industrial levels
Abstract The Topical Collection “Accrual of Climate Change Risk in Six Vulnerable Countries” provides a harmonised assessment of risks to human and natural systems due to global warming of 1. 5–4 °C in six countries (China, Brazil, Egypt, Ethiopia, Ghana, and India) using a consistent set of climate change and socioeconomic scenarios. It compares risks in 2100 if warming has reached 3 °C, broadly corresponding to current global greenhouse gas emission reduction policies, including countries’ National Determined Contributions, rather than the Paris Agreement goal of limiting warming to ‘well below’ 2 °C and ‘pursuing efforts’ to limit to 1.
Health-environment efficiency of diets shows nonlinear trends over 1990-2011
Understanding the impacts of diets on health and the environment, as well as their association with socio-economic development, is key to operationalize and monitor food systems shifts. Here we propose a health-environment efficiency indicator defined as a ratio of health benefits and four key food-related environmental impacts (greenhouse gas emissions, scarcity-weighted water withdrawal, acidifying and eutrophying emissions) to assess how diets have performed in supporting healthy lives in relation to environmental pollution and resource consumption across 195 countries from 1990 to 2011. We find that the health-environment efficiency of each environmental input follows a nonlinear path along the Socio-Demographic Index gradient representing different development levels.
MEIC-global-CO2: A new global CO2 emission inventory with highly-resolved source category and sub-country information
MEIC-global-CO2 presents a new global CO2 emission inventory with highly-resolved source category and sub-country information. The database covers multiple countries with detailed sectoral disaggregation, enabling more precise attribution of emissions to specific sources and regions for improved climate policy analysis and mitigation planning.
Large-scale photovoltaic solar farms in the Sahara affect solar power generation potential globally
Abstract Globally, solar projects are being rapidly built or planned, particularly in high solar potential regions with high energy demand. However, their energy generation potential is highly related to the weather condition. Here we use state-of-the-art Earth system model simulations to investigate how large photovoltaic solar farms in the Sahara Desert could impact the global cloud cover and solar generation potential through disturbed atmospheric teleconnections. The results indicate negative impacts on solar potential in North Africa (locally), Middle East, Southern Europe, India, Eastern China, Japan, Eastern Australia, and Southwestern US, and positive impacts in Central and South America, the Caribbean, Central & Eastern US, Scandinavia and South Africa, reaching a magnitude of ±5% in remote regions seasonally.
Projecting future carbon emissions from cement production in developing countries
Achieving low-carbon development of the cement industry in the developing countries is fundamental to global emissions abatement, considering the local construction industry’s rapid growth. However, there is currently a lack of systematic and accurate accounting and projection of cement emissions in developing countries, which are characterized with lower basic economic country condition. Here, we provide bottom-up quantifications of emissions from global cement production and reveal a regional shift in the main contributors to global cement CO2 emissions. The study further explores cement emissions over 2020-2050 that correspond to different housing and infrastructure conditions and emissions mitigation options for all developing countries except China.
Investigation of plant-level volatile organic compound emissions from chemical industry
The chemical industry is a significant source of nonmethane volatile organic compounds (NMVOCs), pivotal precursors to ambient ozone (O3), and secondary organic aerosol (SOA). Despite their importance, precise estimation of these emissions remains challenging, impeding the implementation of NMVOC controls. Here, we present the first comprehensive plant-level assessment of NMVOC emissions from the chemical industry in China, encompassing 3461 plants, 127 products, and 50 NMVOC compounds from 2010 to 2019. Our findings revealed that the chemical industry in China emitted a total of 3105 (interquartile range: 1179-8113) Gg of NMVOCs in 2019, with a few specific products accounting for the majority of the emissions.
The 2023 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change
With growing health risks from climate change and a trend of increasing carbon emissions from coal, it is time for China to take action. The rising frequency and severity of extreme weather events in China, such as record-high temperatures, low rainfall, severe droughts, and floods in many regions (along with the compound and ripple effects of these events on human health) have underlined the urgent need for health-centred climate action. The rebound in the country’s coal consumption observed in 2022 reflected the great challenge faced by China in terms of its coal phase-down, over-riding the country’s gains in reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Leveraging opportunity of low carbon transition by super-emitter cities in China
Chinese cities are core in the national carbon mitigation and largely affect global decarbonisation initiatives, yet disparities between cities challenge country-wide progress. Low-carbon transition should preferably lead to a convergence of both equity and mitigation targets among cities. Inter-city supply chains that link the production and consumption of cities are a factor in shaping inequality and mitigation but less considered aggregately. Here, we modelled supply chains of 309 Chinese cities for 2012 to quantify carbon footprint inequality, as well as explored a leverage opportunity to achieve an inclusive low-carbon transition.
Substantial increase in future fluvial flood risk projected in China’s major urban agglomerations
Floods are one of the most destructive natural disasters and projecting future flood risk is essential for protecting lives and livelihoods. China is in the process of rapid urbanization, and most of the urban agglomerations are distributed on floodplains, facing high fluvial flood risk. The effect of urban spatial expansion, instead of densification of assets within existing urban cells, on flood risk has rarely been reported. Here, based on the latest projected urban land data and bias-corrected CMIP6 outputs, we project the future flood risk of seven urban agglomerations in China, home to over 750 million people.
Iron and steel industry emissions: a global analysis of trends and drivers
The iron and steel industry (ISI) is important for socio-economic progress but emits greenhouse gases and air pollutants detrimental to climate and human health. Understanding its historical emission trends and drivers is crucial for future warming and pollution interventions. Here, we offer an exhaustive analysis of global ISI emissions over the past 60 years, forecasting up to 2050. We evaluate emissions of carbon dioxide and conventional and unconventional air pollutants, including heavy metals and polychlorinated dibenzodioxins and dibenzofurans. Based on this newly established inventory, we dissect the determinants of past emission trends and future trajectories.
Global iron and steel plant CO2 emissions and carbon-neutrality pathways
This study provides a comprehensive assessment of global iron and steel plant CO2 emissions and identifies carbon-neutrality pathways. It analyzes plant-level emission data across major producing countries, evaluates technological options for decarbonization including hydrogen steelmaking and carbon capture, and maps feasible transition routes toward net-zero emissions.
Achieving decent living standards in emerging economies challenges national mitigation goals for CO2 emissions
Emerging economies, low- and middle-income countries experiencing rapid population and GDP growth, face the challenge of improving their living standards while stabilizing CO2 emissions to meet net-zero goals. In this study, we quantify the CO2 emissions required for achieving decent living standards (DLS) in emerging economies. The results show that, compared to other regions, achieving DLS in emerging Asian and African economies will result in more additional CO2 emissions, particularly in the DLS indicators of Mobility and Electricity. Achievement of DLS in emerging economies will result in 8. 6 Gt of additional CO2 emissions, which should not jeopardize global climate targets.
Limited driving of elevated CO2 on vegetation greening over global drylands
Abstract Drylands are the world’s largest biome and dominate the trends and interannual variability of global carbon sinks. Although a ‘greening’ trend of global drylands has been widely reported, large uncertainties remain in attributing its drivers. It is increasingly emphasized that elevated CO 2 has greatly contributed to the vegetation greening over global drylands. Here we quantified the contributions of climate change, elevated CO 2 , and land use and land cover change (LULCC) on leaf area index (LAI) over drylands, using a process-based land surface model Noah-MP to investigate the drivers of vegetation change.
Synergetic roadmap of carbon neutrality and clean air for China
It is well recognized that carbon dioxide and air pollutants share similar emission sources so that synergetic policies on climate change mitigation and air pollution control can lead to remarkable co-benefits on greenhouse gas reduction, air quality improvement, and improved health. In the context of carbon peak, carbon neutrality, and clean air policies, this perspective tracks and analyzes the process of the synergetic governance of air pollution and climate change in China by developing and monitoring 18 indicators. The 18 indicators cover the following five aspects: air pollution and associated weather-climate conditions, progress in structural transition, sources, inks, and mitigation pathway of atmospheric composition, health impacts and benefits of coordinated control, and synergetic governance system and practices.
Carbon footprints of the equity portfolios of Chinese fund firms
Abstract Under the dual carbon goals in China, the transition to a net-zero carbon economy requires massive amounts of capital, which must be provided and facilitated by financial institutions. Yet, there are no unified, publicly available disclosures of the investment carbon footprint of Chinese financial institutions, leaving them facing great climate-related risks. Here we demonstrate that the aggregated financed emissions show an upward trend from 2015, and the investment portfolios are more exposed to carbon-intensive assets, based on the equity portfolios of China’s 105 fund firms. We further explore the decarbonization potential for fund firms and show that sustainability-aware fund firms are characterized by financed emission reductions and carbon efficiency gains.
The heterogeneous driving forces behind carbon emissions change in 30 selective emerging economies
Emerging economies are predicted to be future emission hotspots due to expected levels of urbanization and industrialization, and their CO2 emissions are receiving more scrutiny. However, the driving forces underlying dynamic change in emissions are poorly understood, despite their crucial role in developing targeted mitigating pathways. We firstly compile energy-related emissions of 30 selective emerging economies from 2010 to 2018. Then, three growth patterns of emissions in these economies have been identified through emission data, which imply different low-carbon pathways. Most emerging economies saw an increase of varying degrees in emissions, driven by economic growth and partly offset by better energy efficiency and improvements in energy mixes.
The narrowing gap in developed and developing country emission intensities reduces global trade’s carbon leakage
International trade affects CO2 emissions by redistributing production activities to places where the emission intensities are different from the place of consumption. This study focuses on the net emission change as the result of the narrowing gap in emission intensities between the exporter and importer. Here we show that the relocation of production activities from the global North (developed countries) to the global South (developing countries) in the early 2000s leads to an increase in global emissions due to the higher emission intensities in China and India. The related net emissions are about one-third of the total emissions embodied in the South-North trade.
An interprovincial input-output database distinguishing firm ownership in China from 1997 to 2017
Input-Output (IO) data describing supply-demand relationships between buyers and sellers for goods and services within an economy have been used not only in economics but also in scientific, environmental, and interdisciplinary research. However, most conventional IO data are highly aggregated, resulting in challenges for researchers and practitioners who face complex issues in large countries such as China, where firms within the same IO sector may have significant differences in technologies across subnational regions and different ownerships. This paper is the first attempt to compile China’s interprovincial IO (IPIO) tables with separate information for mainland China-, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan-, and foreign-owned firms inside each province/industry pair.
Value chain carbon footprints of Chinese listed companies
Measuring the value chain carbon footprints of listed companies is essential for cumulative climate actions and climate-efficient capital allocation. We trace the carbon emissions embodied in the value chains of Chinese listed companies and find that there is an increasing trend in terms of the carbon footprints of listed companies over the period 2010-2019. In 2019, the direct emissions from these companies reached 1. 9 billion tonnes, accounting for 18. 3% of national emissions. The indirect emissions were well over twice as large as the direct emissions from 2010 to 2019.
How to avoid a local epidemic becoming a global pandemic
Here, we combine international air travel passenger data with a standard epidemiological model of the initial 3 mo of the COVID-19 pandemic (January through March 2020; toward the end of which the entire world locked down). Using the information available during this initial phase of the pandemic, our model accurately describes the main features of the actual global development of the pandemic demonstrated by the high degree of coherence between the model and global data. The validated model allows for an exploration of alternative policy efficacies (reducing air travel and/or introducing different degrees of compulsory immigration quarantine upon arrival to a country) in delaying the global spread of SARS-CoV-2 and thus is suggestive of similar efficacy in anticipating the spread of future global disease outbreaks.
The climate impact of high seas shipping
Strict carbon emission regulations are set with respect to countries’ territorial seas or shipping activities in exclusive economic zones to meet their climate change commitment under the Paris Agreement. However, no shipping policies on carbon mitigation are proposed for the world’s high seas regions, which results in carbon intensive shipping activities. In this paper, we propose a Geographic-based Emission Estimation Model (GEEM) to estimate shipping GHG emission patterns on high seas regions. The results indicate that annual emissions of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2-e) in shipping on the high seas reached 211.
Persistent eutrophication and hypoxia in the coastal ocean
Abstract Coastal eutrophication and hypoxia remain a persistent environmental crisis despite the great efforts to reduce nutrient loading and mitigate associated environmental damages. Symptoms of this crisis have appeared to spread rapidly, reaching developing countries in Asia with emergences in Southern America and Africa. The pace of changes and the underlying drivers remain not so clear. To address the gap, we review the up-to-date status and mechanisms of eutrophication and hypoxia in global coastal oceans, upon which we examine the trajectories of changes over the 40 years or longer in six model coastal systems with varying socio-economic development statuses and different levels and histories of eutrophication.
Supply chains create global benefits from improved vaccine accessibility
Ensuring a more equitable distribution of vaccines worldwide is an effective strategy to control global pandemics and support economic recovery. We analyze the socioeconomic effects – defined as health gains, lockdown-easing effect, and supply-chain rebuilding benefit – of a set of idealized COVID-19 vaccine distribution scenarios. We find that an equitable vaccine distribution across the world would increase global economic benefits by 11. 7% ($950 billion per year), compared to a scenario focusing on vaccinating the entire population within vaccine-producing countries first and then distributing vaccines to non-vaccine-producing countries.
Energy-related CO2 emission accounts and datasets for 40 emerging economies in 2010-2019
Abstract. Since 2000, CO2 emissions from emerging economies have outstripped those of developed economies. To limit global warming to under 1. 5 ∘C by 2100, over 100 emerging economies have proposed net-zero carbon targets. Yet the supportive data are lacking – no inventory of CO2 emission outlines detailed sources by sector or distribution at the subnational level for these economies. Here, we redress the balance by establishing a dataset for an energy-related CO2 emission inventory that covers 47 sectors and eight energy types in 40 emerging economies (https://doi. org/10. 5281/zenodo.
Global oil refining’s contribution to greenhouse gas emissions from 2000 to 2021
The refining industry is the third-largest source of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from stationary sources, so it is at the forefront of the energy transition and net zero pathways. The dynamics of contributors in this sector such as crucial countries, leading enterprises, and key emission processes are vital to identifying key GHG emitters and supporting targeted emission reduction, yet they are still poorly understood. Here, we established a global sub-refinery GHG emission dataset in a long time series based on life cycle method. Globally, cumulative GHG emissions from refineries reached approximately 34.
Can US multi-state climate mitigation agreements work? A perspective from embedded emission flows
We examine emission transfers between the states that have joined the U.S. Climate Alliance (USCA) and others. Our results show that states pledging to curb emissions consistent with the Paris Agreement were responsible for approximately 40% of total U.S. territorial GHG emissions.
Entropy-based Chinese city-level MRIO table framework
Cities are pivotal hubs of socioeconomic activities, and consumption in cities contributes to global environmental pressures. Compiling city-level multi-regional input-output (MRIO) tables is challenging due to the scarcity of city-level data. Here we propose an entropy-based framework to construct city-level MRIO tables. We demonstrate the new construction method and present an analysis of the carbon footprint of cities in China’s Hebei province. A sensitivity analysis is conducted by introducing a weight reflecting the heterogeneity between city and province data, as an important source of uncertainty is the degree to which cities and provinces have an identical ratio of intermediate demand to total demand.
Sustainable development pathways for Chinese cities: an assessment of the advanced inclusive wealth index
The inclusive wealth index (IWI) is a stock metric proposed internationally in recent years to measure a region’s sustainable development potential. To explore sustainability more comprehensively in this context, this paper improves the inclusive wealth (IW) system proposed by the United Nations Environment Programme by extending the definition of intangible capital and refining the classification of different types of capital. We then used the advanced IWI to investigate the changes in per capita IW and its capital composition in China’s 10 National Sustainable Development Agenda Innovation Demonstration Zones from 2010 to 2019, and proposed sustainable development pathways for Chinese cities.
Using a linear regression approach to sequential interindustry model for time-lagged economic impact analysis
The input-output (IO) model is a powerful economic tool with many extended applications. However, one of the widely criticized drawbacks is its rather lengthy time lag in data preparation, making it impossible to apply IO in high-resolution time-series analysis. The conventional IO model is thus unfortunately unsuited for time-series analysis. In this study, we present an innovative algorithm that integrates linear regression techniques into a derivative of the IO method, the Sequential Interindustry Model (SIM), to overcome the inherent shortcomings of statistical lags in conventional IO studies. The regressed relationship can thus be used to predict, in the short term, the accumulated chronological impacts induced by fluctuations in sectorial economic demands under disequilibrium conditions.
Full-scale, near real-time multi-regional input-output table for the global emerging economies (EMERGING)
Abstract Multi‐regional input–output (MRIO) models are widely used to analyze the economic interdependencies between regions in the context of global trade and environmental research. MRIO tables enable us to teleconnect the sectors in different regions along the supply chain and track both direct and indirect impacts of global production. Yet emerging economies—despite reshaping international trade patterns and playing an increasingly important role in the world economy—are not adequately represented in existing MRIO databases, which lack key detail on countries and sectors. To bridge this gap, our study presents EMERGING: Up‐to‐date and full‐scale MRIO tables covering 135 sectors in 245 economies over the period from 2015 to 2019.
Environmentally vulnerable or sensitive groups exhibiting varying concerns toward air pollution can drive government response to improve air quality
Air pollution seriously threatens human health, and its consequences are particularly prevalent among environmentally vulnerable or sensitive groups. However, whether the concerns among these groups are different and how they affect air pollution governance remain unclear. Here, we extract 3. 8 million haze-related posts from China’s Sina Weibo and analyze the concerns raised by these groups by constructing an air pollution notability index. The results show that protection is the key theme for women aged 20-35 years, while elderly individuals are easily influenced by haze-related product ads yet lack awareness of scientific-based protection.
Trends, drivers, and mitigation of CO2 emissions in the guangdong-hong kong-macao greater bay area
The Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is a national initiative aimed at building a world-class city cluster in China and whose trends, socioeconomic drivers of CO2 emissions, and mitigation pathways are of great significance to the high-quality regional economic development. This study compiled the CO2 emission inventories of the GBA from 2000 to 2019 and explored the key drivers of CO2 emissions using the logarithmic mean Divisia index method. The results showed that CO2 emissions in GBA slowed significantly after 2017 and have already been decoupled from gross domestic product (GDP) growth.
Emission accounting and drivers in East African countries
East Africa is typical of the less developed economies that have emerged since the 21st century, whose brilliant economic miracle has also triggered the rapid growth of energy consumption and carbon dioxide emissions. However, previous carbon accounting studies have never focused on the region. Based on multi-source data, this paper rebuilt the 45-sectors carbon emission inventories of eight East African countries from 2000 to 2017, and used index decomposition analysis to quantify the drivers of growth. Here we found that overall the CO2 emissions show a ‘two-stage exponential growth’ pattern, with significant heterogeneity between countries.
Using a Linear Regression Approach to Sequential Interindustry Model for Time-Lagged Economic Impact Analysis
The input-output (IO) model is a powerful economic tool with many extended applications. However, one of the widely criticized drawbacks is its rather lengthy time lag in data preparation, making it impossible to apply IO in high-resolution time-series analysis. The conventional IO model is thus unfortunately unsuited for time-series analysis. In this study, we present an innovative algorithm that integrates linear regression techniques into a derivative of the IO method, the Sequential Interindustry Model (SIM), to overcome the inherent shortcomings of statistical lags in conventional IO studies. The regressed relationship can thus be used to predict, in the short term, the accumulated chronological impacts induced by fluctuations in sectorial economic demands under disequilibrium conditions.
Large inter-city inequality in consumption-based CO2 emissions for China’s pearl river basin cities
We compiled a consumption-based inventory of 47 cities in the Basin for 2012. We found that the total consumption-based emissions of 47 cities was 933.8 Mt, accounting for 13.1% of China’s emissions. There were huge differences in the consumption-based emissions, ranging from 3.6 Mt (Heyuan City) to 153.1 Mt (Shenzhen City).
The 2021 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change: seizing the window of opportunity
This 2021 report is the first annual update, presenting 25 indicators within five domains: climate change impacts, exposures, and vulnerability; adaptation, planning, and resilience for health; mitigation actions and health co-benefits; economics and finance; and public and political engagement.
Monthly direct and indirect greenhouse gases emissions from household consumption in the major Japanese cities
Urban household consumption contributes substantially to global greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions. Urban household emissions encompass both direct and indirect emissions, with the former associated with the direct use of fossil fuels and the latter with the emissions embodied in the consumed goods and services. However, there is a lack of consistent and comprehensive datasets outlining in great detail emissions from urban household consumption. To bridge this data gap, we construct an emission inventory of urban household emissions for 52 major cities in Japan that covers around 500 emission categories. The dataset spans from January 2011 to December 2015 and contains 12,384 data records for direct emissions and 1,543,128 records for indirect emissions.
Heterogeneity of consumption-based carbon emissions and driving forces in Indian states
As the second most populous country in the world, India is on the way to rapid industrialization and urbanization, possibly becoming the next carbon giant. With its vast territory and high regional heterogeneity in terms of development stages and population, state-level consumption-based emissions patterns and driving forces are critical but unfortunately, remain far from completed. In this paper, we first applied a multi-regional input-output model to ascertain heterogeneity in consumption-based emissions and track carbon flows in the inter-state supply chain, using our newly constructed Indian multi-state input-output table for 2015, based on Flegg location quotient method.
Decoupling without outsourcing? How China’s consumption-based CO2 emissions have plateaued
The shift of China’s economy since 2013, dubbed the “new normal”, has caused its production and consumption emissions to plateau, with the country seeming to embody the tantalizing promise of decoupling its economic growth from carbon emissions. By using multi-region input-output analysis, we find that China’s relative decoupling in the new normal is technology driven, evidenced by the narrowing gap between its technology-adjusted and non-adjusted consumption emissions. By applying structural decomposition analysis, we further explore the driving forces behind the slowdown in China’s imported emissions growth, finding that it is attributable to restructuring of import patterns resulting from changes in the structures of domestic demand.
Chinese provincial multi-regional input-output database for 2012, 2015, and 2017
Global production fragmentation generates indirect socioeconomic and environmental impacts throughout its expanded supply chains. The multi-regional input-output model (MRIO) is a tool commonly used to trace the supply chain and understand spillover effects across regions, but often cannot be applied due to data unavailability, especially at the sub-national level. Here, we present MRIO tables for 2012, 2015, and 2017 for 31 provinces of mainland China in 42 economic sectors. We employ hybrid methods to construct the MRIO tables according to the available data for each year. The dataset is the consistent China MRIO table collection to reveal the evolution of regional supply chains in China’s recent economic transition.
Entropy-based Chinese city-level MRIO table framework
Cities are pivotal hubs of socioeconomic activities, and consumption in cities contributes to global environmental pressures. Compiling city-level multi-regional input-output (MRIO) tables is challenging due to the scarcity of city-level data. Here we propose an entropy-based framework to construct city-level MRIO tables. We demonstrate the new construction method and present an analysis of the carbon footprint of cities in China’s Hebei province. A sensitivity analysis is conducted by introducing a weight reflecting the heterogeneity between city and province data, as an important source of uncertainty is the degree to which cities and provinces have an identical ratio of intermediate demand to total demand.
Virtual carbon and water flows embodied in global fashion trade-a case study of denim products
Abstract The environmental impacts of the fashion industry have been aroused wide concerns. The globalization and fragmentation of the textile and fashion system have led to the uneven distribution of environmental consequences. As denim is the fabric of jeans that is representative of fashion, this study assessed virtual carbon and water flows embodied in the global denim-product trade, and footprints of denim production were quantified by life-cycle assessment and water footprint assessment. Results indicated that virtual carbon embodied in the global denim trade increased obviously from 14. 8 Mt CO2e in 2001 to 16.
Japanese carbon emissions patterns shifted following the 2008 financial crisis and the 2011 Tohoku earthquake
Abstract Unexpected events such as economic crises and natural disasters can have profound implications for energy systems and climate change mitigation efforts at different levels. Here we explore the national and regional carbon emission patterns (and their drivers) for the main economic sectors in Japan between 2007 and 2015, a period shaped by the 2008 financial crisis and the 2011 Tohoku Earthquake. Following the 2011 earthquake the previously decreasing regional emissions patterns started increasing in practically all regions except Hokkaido. This was mainly due to growing coal use particularly in the Kyushu, Chugoku and Kansai regions.
Assessing the economic impacts of future fluvial flooding in six countries under climate change and socio-economic development
This study presents an integrated flood risk analysis framework to calculate total economic damages, with and without socio-economic development, under a range of warming levels from < 1.5 to 4 °C in Brazil, China, India, Egypt, Ethiopia, and Ghana.
Economic impacts of climate-induced crop yield changes: evidence from agri-food industries in six countries
This study assesses the economic impacts of eight scenarios of warming, from 1.5 to 4 °C, on rice and wheat yields in China, India, Brazil, Egypt, Ghana and Ethiopia. The role of both natural and social factors in crop production is considered by coupling a statistical crop model (ClimaCrop) and a global economic model (GTAP). Changes in economic o
Supply chain effects of China’s fast growing marine economy on greenhouse gas emissions
Abstract The marine economic activities has become a vital economic driving force for development of China’s economy. However, the trajectory of greenhouse gas (i. e. GHG) emissions associated the fast growing marine economy and its role in emission mitigation remain unclear. Through compiling high-resolution and time-series environmental input–output tables for 2002, 2007, 2012 and 2017, this study quantify development of 13 key marine industries in driving national economic development and its supply chains, and assesses the direct and indirect contributions of marine industries to the national economy and GHGs emissions.
The driving forces behind the change in energy consumption in developing countries
Abstract Economic growth is principally powered by energy fuels. While the potential energy transition pathways in developed countries are clear, they have not been well explored for developing countries. Here, we study the average annual growth rate of energy consumption in 12 aggregated regions during 2001–2017 and the driving factors behind that growth. The countries with high energy consumption growth rates were concentrated in Asia and North Africa and four of the top five regions were in Asia, while the energy consumption in developed countries was stable or even declined in that period.
Unsustainable imbalances and inequities in Carbon-Water-Energy flows across the EU27
Abstract The EU27 countries exert significant influence on the global patterns of the CO2-Emissions-Water-Energy (CWE) nexus. However, whether the associated benefits are similar for all countries is unclear. In this paper, an EU27 multiregional input-output model, at a sector level to identify the inter-regional and -sectoral CWE flows, and clarify the regional, sectoral and worldwide patterns of EU27 CWE network is presented. The results revealed an environmental inequality across the EU27 and impacts on the rest of the world. The EU27 countries contributed 1. 4 Gt less CO2 emissions, 64.
CO2 emission accounts of Russia’s constituent entities 2005-2019
Constituent entities which make up Russia have wide-ranging powers and are considered as important policymakers and implementers of climate change mitigation. Formulation of CO2 emission inventories for Russia’s constituent entities is the priority step in achieving emission reduction. Russia is the world’s largest exporter of oil and gas combined and the fourth biggest CO2 emitter, so it’s efforts in mitigating CO2 emissions are globally significant in curbing climate change. However, the existing emission inventories only present national CO2 emissions; the subnational emission details are missing. In addition, the emission factors are not country-specific and energy activity data by fossil energy types and sectors are not sufficiently detailed.
Reduction of Human Mobility Matters during Early COVID-19 Outbreaks: Evidence from India, Japan and China
Mobility restrictions have been a heated topic during the global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). However, multiple recent findings have verified its importance in blocking virus spread. Evidence on the association between mobility, cases imported from abroad and local medical resource supplies is limited. To reveal the association, this study quantified the importance of inter- and intra-country mobility in containing virus spread and avoiding hospitalizations during early stages of COVID-19 outbreaks in India, Japan, and China. We calculated the time-varying reproductive number (Rt) and duration from illness onset to diagnosis confirmation (Doc), to represent conditions of virus spread and hospital bed shortages, respectively.
The 2020 China report of the Lancet Countdown on health and climate change
Left unmitigated, climate change poses a catastrophic risk to human health, requiring an urgent and concerted response from every country. As the home to one fifth of the world’s population and the largest emitter of carbon dioxide globally, China’s interventions in climate change are of pivotal importance, both to human health and to the planet. Similar to other countries, climate change mitigation and adaptation would bring immense health benefits for China’s 1·4 billion people, and building these considerations into any COVID-19 recovery strategy and the detailed pathway to fulfil the 2060 carbon neutrality pledge will ensure it improves human wellbeing, both now and in the future.
Province-level fossil fuel CO2 emission estimates for China based on seven inventories
Abstract China pledges to reach a peak in CO2 emissions by 2030 and to make its best efforts to reach this peak earlier. Previous studies have paid much attention to the total amount of China’s CO2 emissions, but usually only one dataset is used in each evaluation. The pledged national reduction target is administratively divided into provincial targets. Accurate interpretation of province-level carbon emissions is essential for making policies and achieving the reduction target. However, the spatiotemporal pattern of provincial emissions and the associated uncertainty are still poorly understood. Thus, an assessment of province-level CO2 emissions considering local statistical data and emission factors is urgently needed.
Evaluating China’s fossil-fuel CO2 emissions from a comprehensive dataset of nine inventories
Abstract. China’s fossil-fuel CO2 (FFCO2) emissions accounted for approximately 28 % of the global total FFCO2 in 2016. An accurate estimate of China’s FFCO2 emissions is a prerequisite for global and regional carbon budget analyses and the monitoring of carbon emission reduction efforts. However, significant uncertainties and discrepancies exist in estimations of China’s FFCO2 emissions due to a lack of detailed traceable emission factors (EFs) and multiple statistical data sources. Here, we evaluated China’s FFCO2 emissions from nine published global and regional emission datasets. These datasets show that the total emissions increased from 3.
A 2015 inventory of embodied carbon emissions for Chinese power transmission infrastructure projects
The spatial mismatch of energy resources and electricity demand in China drives the large-scale construction of power transmission infrastructure, which consumes a large amount of carbon-intensive products. However, a systematic accounting framework for the carbon emissions of power transmission infrastructure has not yet been established. This study for the first time compiles an embodied carbon emissions inventory covering 191 typical power transmission infrastructure projects in China in 2015, including 145 types of alternating current (AC) transmission line projects, 37 typical AC substation projects, 8 typical direct current (DC) transmission line projects and 1 typical DC converter station project.
Embodied carbon emissions in China-US trade
we quantify the embodied carbon emissions (the "virtual" emissions associated with trade and consumption) in China-US trade by constructing a carbon dioxide emissions inventory and a multiregional input-output model.
City‐level water withdrawal in China: Accounting methodology and applications
Abstract In the context of the freshwater crisis, accounting for water withdrawal could help planners better regulate water use in different sectors to combat water scarcity. However, the water withdrawal statistics in China are patchy, and the water data across all sectors at the city level appear to be relatively insufficient. Hence, we develop a general framework to, for the first time, estimate the water withdrawal of 58 economic–social–environmental sectors in cities in China. This methodology was applied because only inconsistent water statistics collected from different data sources at the city level are available.
Five tips for China to realize its co-targets of climate mitigation and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)
In 2018, a total of US
66 billion global economic losses and a new high of 55. 3 Gt of CO2 equivalent emission were generated by 831 climate-related extreme events. As the world’s largest CO2 emitter, we reported China’s recent progresses and pitfalls in climate actions to achieve climate mitigation targets (i. e. , limit warming to 1. 5–2°C above the pre-industrial level). We first summarized China’s integrated actions (2015 onwards) that benefit both climate change mitigation and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These projects include re-structuring organizations, establishing working goals and actions, amending laws and regulations at national level, as well as increasing social awareness at community level.
Supply Constraint from Earthquakes in Japan in Input-Output Analysis
Disasters often cause exogenous flow damage (i. e. , the [hypothetical] difference in economic scale with and without a disaster in a certain period) to production (“supply constraint”). However, input-output (IO) analysis (IOA) cannot usually consider it, because the Leontief quantity model (LQM) assumes that production is endogenous; the Ghosh quantity model (GQM) is considered implausible; and the Leontief price model (LPM) and the Ghosh price model (GPM) assume that quantity is fixed. This study proposes to consider a supply constraint in the LPM, introducing the price elasticity of demand.
CO2 Emissions Embodied in International Migration from 1995 to 2015
While present international CO2 mitigation agreements account for the impact of population composition and structure on emissions, the impact of international migration is overlooked. This study quantifies the CO2 footprint of international immigrants and reveals their non-negligible impacts on global CO2 emissions. Results show that the CO2 footprint of international immigrants has increased from 1. 8 gigatonnes (Gt) in 1995 to 2. 9 Gt in 2015. In 2015, the U. S. had the largest total and per capita CO2 emissions caused by international immigrants. Oceania and the Middle East are highlighted for their large portions of immigrant-caused CO2 emissions in total CO2 emissions (around 20%).
Enlarging regional disparities in energy intensity within China
As energy saving and emission reduction become a global action, the disparity in energy intensity between different regions is a new rising problem that stems a country’s or region’s energy‐saving potential. Here we collect China’s provincial panel data (1995–2017) of primary and final energy consumption to evaluate China’s unequal and polarized regional pattern in energy intensity, decompose the inequality index into contributing components, and investigate possible driving factors behind the unequal pattern both regionally and structurally, for the first time. The results show that China’s interprovince disparities in energy intensity increase and are exacerbated by the enlarging disparities in energy intensity between the least developed and most developed regions of China.
Flood footprint assessment: a multiregional case of 2009 central European floods
Hydrometeorological phenomena have increased in intensity and frequency in last decades, with Europe as one of the most affected areas. This accounts for considerable economic losses in the region. Regional adaptation strategies for costs minimization require a comprehensive assessment of the disasters’ economic impacts at a multiple-region scale. This article adapts the flood footprint method for multiple-region assessment of total economic impact and applies it to the 2009 Central European Floods event. The flood footprint is an impact accounting framework based on the input-output methodology to economically assess the physical damage (direct) and production shortfalls (indirect) within a region and wider economic networks, caused by a climate disaster.
Dynamic driving forces of India’s emissions from production and consumption perspectives
While India becomes one of the largest carbon emitters in the world with a high emission growth rate, existing studies fail to capture the recent trends and the key driving factors behind it. Here, by using multiregional input‐output analysis and structural decomposition analysis, we measure the contribution of factors to the changes of India’s domestic consumption and trade‐related emissions. This study finds that India’s per capita consumption has a significant raising effect on India’s consumption‐based emissions during 2000–2014; increasing coal proportion (especially in industry and electricity) and ineffective energy efficiency (especially in electricity) continuously push India’s production‐based emissions upwards after 2003.
Low-carbon development via greening global value chains: a case study of Belarus
The rise of global value chains (GCVs) has seen the transfer of carbon emissions embodied in every step of international trade. Building a coordinated, inclusive and green GCV can be an effective and efficient way to achieve carbon emissions mitigation targets for countries that participate highly in GCVs. In this paper, we first describe the energy consumption as well as the territorial and consumption-based carbon emissions of Belarus and its regions from 2010 to 2017. The results show that Belarus has a relatively clean energy structure with 75% of Belarus’ energy consumption coming from imported natural gas.
Japan prefectural emission accounts and socioeconomic data 2007 to 2015
In the wake of the Fukushima nuclear disaster, Japan largely moved away from nuclear power generation and turned back towards an energy sector dominated by fossil fuels. As a result, the pace towards reaching emission reduction targets has largely slowed down. This situation indicates that higher emissions will continue to be generated if there is no appropriate and efficient measurement implemented to bridge the energy demand gap. To contribute adequate mitigation policies, a detailed inventory of both CO2 emissions and socioeconomic factors, both at the national and regional level, should be issued.
Regional determinants of China’s consumption-based emissions in the economic transition
Abstract China has entered the economic transition in the post-financial crisis era, with unprecedented new features that significantly lead to a decline in its carbon emissions. However, regional disparity implies different trajectories in regional decarbonisation. Here, we construct multi-regional input–output tables (MRIO) for 2012 and 2015 and quantitatively evaluate the regional disparity in decarbonisation and the driving forces during 2012–2015. We found China’s consumption-based emissions peaked in 2013, largely driven by a peak in consumption-based emissions from developing regions. Declined intensity and industrial structures are determinants due to the economic transition.
Methodology and application of flood footprint accounting in a hypothetical multiple two-flood event
Multiple natural disasters are becoming ever more frequent around the world, with both climate change and rapid urbanization increasing the risk of such disasters in human society. Comprehensive analysis of the economic impact of multiple disasters on the industrial and economic system has become an urgent and essential part of urban recovery and sustainable development. However, there is a lack of studies that focus on assessing the indirect economic impacts resulting from such multiple events, and thereafter providing a common quantitative approach within their assessment.
Environmental regulation and enterprise innovation: a review
Abstract The impact of environmental regulation on enterprise innovation is closely related to the competitiveness of the enterprise and sustainable development of the regional economy, but existing research does not provide a consistent view. This paper summarizes the impacts of environmental regulation on enterprise innovation from the perspectives of technological innovation, product innovation, system innovation and ecological innovation. We find that the impacts of environmental regulation on enterprise innovation behaviour are complex, and that the impacts can be reflected together by the four aspects above and even by their interaction.
China CO2 emission accounts 2016-2017
Despite China’s emissions having plateaued in 2013, it is still the world’s leading energy consumer and CO2 emitter, accounting for approximately 30% of global emissions. Detailed CO2 emission inventories by energy and sector have great significance to China’s carbon policies as well as to achieving global climate change mitigation targets. This study constructs the most up-to-date CO2 emission inventories for China and its 30 provinces, as well as their energy inventories for the years 2016 and 2017. The newly compiled inventories provide key updates and supplements to our previous emission dataset for 1997-2015.
Carbon transfer within China: Insights from production fragmentation
Production fragmentation not only reshapes trade patterns but also reallocates trade-related emissions. This study employs China’s multi-regional input-output tables for 2007, 2010 and 2012 to explore the effect of production fragmentation on virtual carbon trade derived from three trade patterns, i. e. final goods trade, intermediate goods trade for the final stage of production, and value chain-related trade. Results showed that inter-provincial trade within China reduced the national carbon emissions by 208 Mt. and 114 Mt. in 2007 and 2012. The first two trade patterns contributed to the reduction, while value-chain-related trade resulted in carbon growth.
Carbon emissions in countries that failed to ratify the intended nationally determined contributions: A case study of Kyrgyzstan
The Paris Agreement aims to increase global participation in climate change actions, yet attentions are not equally given among countries. The knowledge gap remains in understanding the structure and drivers of the emission in small developing countries. Eighteen countries have failed to ratify their Intended National Determined Contributions (INDCs) as an officially recognized emission target. Among these countries, we chose Kyrgyzstan as a case to construct its emission inventories from both production-based and consumption-based perspectives and to identify the drivers of emission changes using structural decomposition analysis (SDA).
Kazakhstan’s CO2 emissions in the post-Kyoto Protocol era: Production-and consumption-based analysis
The first commitment period of the Kyoto Protocol came to an end in 2012 and more developing countries began to participate in the new phase of world carbon emission reduction. Kazakhstan is an important energy export country and a pivot of the “Belt and Road Initiative” (BRI). Despite its emissions are relatively small compared with huge emitters such as China and the US, Kazakhstan also faces great pressure in terms of CO2 emission reduction and green development. Accurately accounting CO2 emissions in Kazakhstan from both production and consumption perspectives is the first step for further emissions control actions.
Can virtual water trade save water resources?
At times, certain areas of China suffering from water shortages. While China’s government is spurring innovation and infrastructure to help head off such problems, it may be that some water conservation could help as well. It is well-known that water is embodied in traded goods-so called “virtual water trade” (VWT). In China, it seems that many water-poor areas are perversely engaged in VWT. Further, China is engaging in the global trend of fragmentation in production, even as an interregional phenomenon. Perhaps something could be learned about conserving or reducing VWT, if we knew where and how it is practiced.
Impacts of climate change on future air quality and human health in China
In recent years, air pollution has caused more than 1 million deaths per year in China, making it a major focus of public health efforts. However, future climate change may exacerbate such human health impacts by increasing the frequency and duration of weather conditions that enhance air pollution exposure. Here, we use a combination of climate, air quality, and epidemiological models to assess future air pollution deaths in a changing climate under Representative Concentration Pathway 4. 5 (RCP4. 5). We find that, assuming pollution emissions and population are held constant at current levels, climate change would adversely affect future air quality for >85% of China’s population (∼55% of land area) by the middle of the century, and would increase by 3% and 4% the population-weighted average concentrations of fine particulate matter (PM2.
Energy and air pollution benefits of household fuel policies in northern China
In addition to many recent actions taken to reduce emissions from energy production, industry, and transportation, a new campaign substituting residential solid fuels with electricity or natural gas has been launched in Beijing, Tianjin, and 26 other municipalities in northern China, aiming at solving severe ambient air pollution in the region. Quantitative analysis shows that the campaign can accelerate residential energy transition significantly, and if the planned target can be achieved, more than 60% of households are projected to remove solid fuels by 2021, compared with fewer than 20% without the campaign.
Unequal age-based household emission and its monthly variation embodied in energy consumption-A cases study of Tokyo, Japan
Abstract City is the main place to consume goods and services throughout the world. Among the various consumption terminals, household-level consumption is highly behavior driven, which can be affected by various factors such as household income level, age, living environment etc. However, city-level household emissions characteristics are still not fully understood due to the complexity of consumption behaviors and the lack of the supply chain’s data. To include the environmental responsibility embodied in residential consumption and reveal how it varies among household type and season, this study investigates city-level household consumption as it relates to energy demand using a city-scale input-output model and urban residential consumption inventories.
Rapid improvement of PM2.5 pollution and associated health benefits in China during 2013-2017
In this work, we investigated changes in PM2.5 exposure and the associated health impacts in China for the period 2013-2017. We used an optimal estimator of PM2.5 combining in-situ observations, satellite measurements, and simulations from a chemical transport model.
Structural patterns of city-level CO2 emissions in Northwest China
Abstract In Northwest China, quantifying city-level CO2 emissions is fundamental to CO2 alleviation but encounters difficulties in data availability and quality. Further, structuring city-level emissions could be conductive to CO2 reduction. This study applies a practical methodology to 16 northwestern Chinese cities to grasp their historical trajectories of CO2 emissions. Then, structuring CO2 emissions is explored in terms of industrial structure, energy mix and urban-rural disparities for 8 northwestern Chinese cities. Results show that: (1) for 16 cities (2010–2015), capital and industrial cities generated most emissions. Meanwhile, CO2 emissions were mostly incompatible with CO2 intensity, but consistent with CO2 per capita; (2) for 8 cities (2006–2015), energy producing sectors, heavy manufacturing sectors, and coal remained major drivers of emissions.
Regional development and carbon emissions in China
China announced at the Paris Climate Change Conference in 2015 that the country would reach peak carbon emissions around 2030. Since then, widespread attention has been devoted to determining when and how this goal will be achieved. This study aims to explore the role of China’s changing regional development patterns in the achievement of this goal. This study uses the logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) to estimate seven socioeconomic drivers of the changes in CO2 emissions in China since 2000. The results show that China’s carbon emissions have plateaued since 2012 mainly because of energy efficiency gains and structural upgrades (i.
Initial Declines in China’s Provincial Energy Consumption and Their Drivers
The conversion of Earth’s land surface to urban uses is one of the most irreversible human impacts on the global biosphere. It drives the loss of farmland, affects local climate, fragments habitats, and threatens biodiversity. Here we present a meta-analysis of 326 studies that have used remotely sensed images to map urban land conversion. We report a worldwide observed increase in urban land area of 58,000 km(2) from 1970 to 2000. India, China, and Africa have experienced the highest rates of urban land expansion, and the largest change in total urban extent has occurred in North America.
Does the rebound effect matter in energy import-dependent mega-cities? Evidence from Shanghai (China)
Abstract The energy rebound effect is regarded as an obstacle of achieving the expected target of energy-saving policies, especially under a rapid urbanization background in developing counties, such as China. This has become a substantial drag of sustainable development in some cities. Shanghai is the economic center of China, and it is also a typical energy import-dependent mega-city. Investigating the evolution of Shanghai’s energy-saving performance and the energy rebound effect is significant for the implementation of energy-saving policies in other similar cities of China and other developing countries.
Review on city-level carbon accounting
Carbon accounting results for the same city can differ due to differences in protocols, methods, and data sources. A critical review of these differences and the connection among them can help to bridge our knowledge between university-based researchers and protocol practitioners in accounting and taking further mitigation actions. The purpose of this study is to provide a review of published research and protocols related to city carbon accounting, paying attention to both their science and practical actions. To begin with, the most cited articles in this field are identified and analyzed by employing a citation network analysis to illustrate the development of city-level carbon accounting from three perspectives.
Frequent interactions of Tibet’s CO2 emissions with those of other regions in China
Tibet is usually missing from China’s emission accounts, especially from those of consumption‐based emissions. In this study, we developed a multiregional input‐output table for 31 provinces in China and examined the production‐ and consumption‐based characteristics of Tibet’s CO2 emissions in 2012. Results show that the consumption‐based CO2 emissions in Tibet (18. 8 Mt, similar to Guinea’s emissions in 2015) were three times as high as the production‐based estimate (6. 2 Mt). Tibet displays unique emission patterns with the highest ratio of consumption‐ to production‐based emissions in China, which are more similar with the east developed provinces rather than its counterparts in west China.
Assessing the economic impacts of IT service shutdown during the York flood of 2015 in the UK
In this paper we focus on the ‘Christmas’ flood in York (UK), 2015. The case is special in the sense that little infrastructure was lost or damaged, while a single industry (IT services) was completely knocked out for a limited time. Due to these characteristics, the standard modelling techniques are no longer appropriate. An alternative option is provided by the Hypothetical Extraction Method, or HEM. However, there are restrictions in using the HEM, one being that no realistic substitutes exist for inputs from industries that were affected. In this paper we discuss these restrictions and show that the HEM performs well in the York flood case.
Socioeconomic and atmospheric factors affecting aerosol radiative forcing: Production-based versus consumption-based perspective
Abstract There exist substantial differences in top-of-atmosphere direct radiative forcing of aerosols due to a region’s economic production (RFp) and consumption (RFc), in the context of economic globalization, trade and globalizing air pollution. Yet an explicit systematic analysis of all socioeconomic and atmospheric factors determining the RF difference is lacking. Here, we evaluate five socioeconomic (population, per capita output, emission intensity) and atmospheric (chemical efficiency and radiative efficiency) factors that determine a region’s RFp, RFc and their difference. We consider the RF of secondary inorganic aerosols, primary organic aerosols and black carbon by 10 regions worldwide in 2007.
Linking city‐level input-output table to urban energy footprint: Construction framework and application
Multiregion input–output (MRIO) models have become increasingly important in economic and environmental analysis. However, the current resolution of most MRIO models fails to capture the heterogeneity between subregions, especially in cities. The lack of city‐level MRIO tables has impeded the accomplishment of city‐level studies and hampered the understanding of the relationship between urban growth and consumption, and teleconnections to other regions. In this paper, we propose a partial survey‐based multiple‐layer framework for MRIO table compilation of a Chinese province that distinguishes city‐based regions. This framework can effectively address a large number of data processes and retain consistency between layers.
Peak cement‐related CO2 emissions and the changes in drivers in China
Abstract In order to fight against the climate change, China has set a series of emission reduction policies for super‐emitting sectors. The cement industry is the major source of process‐related emissions, and more attention should be paid to this industry. This study calculates the process‐related, direct fossil fuel–related, and indirect electricity‐related emissions from China’s cement industry. The study finds that China’s cement‐related emissions peaked in 2014. The emissions are, for the first time, divided into seven parts based on the cement used in different new building types. The provincial emission analysis finds that developed provinces outsourced their cement capacities to less developed regions.
City-level water-energy nexus in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region
Water-energy nexus in a city can either prompt or undermine its development. Yet in China, the relevant research is rarely found. This study accounts the city-level water-energy nexus in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in 2012 from both production and consumption perspectives, where input-output analysis based on city-level input-output tables are applied to conduct consumption-based accounts. Regarding water for energy, Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan occupy the largest amounts of water for production in the energy sector, at 203 million tonnes (Mt), 148 Mt and 118 Mt, and they also consume most water for energy, at 6690 Mt, 1328 Mt and 1476 Mt.
Life-cycle water uses for energy consumption of Chinese households from 2002 to 2015
China’s household energy demands’ life-cycle water uses from 2002 to 2015 are quantified with an Input-Output analysis disaggregating rural and urban impacts. 9. 73 and 1. 60 km3 of water was withdrawn and consumed respectively in the life cycle of Chinese household energy demands in 2015, which was dominated by power and heat uses. An average urbanite’s household energy uses, including coal, gas, petroleum products, power and heat, require about four times of life-cycle water uses than its rural counterpart. Among all upstream sectors, while agricultural sectors accounted for the largest shares for all energy uses, oil and gas extraction made significant contributions to petroleum products and gas consumption.
Carbon emissions of cities from a consumption-based perspective
Carbon emission inventories are the foundations of climate change mitigation and adaptation in cities. In this study, we estimated production-based CO2 emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes in eleven cities in Hebei Province of China in 2012 and used input-output theory to measure their consumption-based CO2 emissions. By comprehensively comparing production- and consumption-based emissions, we found that six developed cities were consumers with import-depended trade patterns, while the five other cities were producers, mostly medium in size, with the potential to transform into consumer cities with socioeconomic development.
Loss of work productivity in a warming world: Differences between developed and developing countries
Comparable estimates of the heat-related work productivity loss (WPL) in different countries over the world are difficult partly due to the lack of exact measures and comparable data for different counties. In this study, we analysed 4363 responses to a global online survey on the WPL during heat waves in 2016. The participants were from both developed and developing countries, facilitating estimates of the heat-related WPL across the world for the year. The heat-related WPL for each country involved was then deduced for increases of 1. 5, 2, 3 and 4 °C in the global mean surface temperature under the representative concentration pathway scenarios in climate models.
Characterising climate change discourse on social media during extreme weather events
When extreme weather events occur, people often turn to social media platforms to share information, opinions and experiences. One of the topics commonly discussed is the role climate change may or may not have played in influencing an event. Here, we examine Twitter posts that mentioned climate change in the context of three high-magnitude extreme weather events – Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Sandy and Snowstorm Jonas – in order to assess how the framing of the topic and the attention paid to it can vary between events. We also examine the role that contextual factors can play in shaping climate change coverage on the platform.
City-level water-energy nexus in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region
Water-energy nexus in a city can either prompt or undermine its development. Yet in China, the relevant research is rarely found. This study accounts the city-level water-energy nexus in Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in 2012 from both production and consumption perspectives, where input-output analysis based on city-level input-output tables are applied to conduct consumption-based accounts. Regarding water for energy, Beijing, Tianjin and Tangshan occupy the largest amounts of water for production in the energy sector, at 203 million tonnes (Mt), 148 Mt and 118 Mt, and they also consume most water for energy, at 6690 Mt, 1328 Mt and 1476 Mt.
Life-cycle water uses for energy consumption of Chinese households from 2002 to 2015
China’s household energy demands’ life-cycle water uses from 2002 to 2015 are quantified with an Input-Output analysis disaggregating rural and urban impacts. 9. 73 and 1. 60 km3 of water was withdrawn and consumed respectively in the life cycle of Chinese household energy demands in 2015, which was dominated by power and heat uses. An average urbanite’s household energy uses, including coal, gas, petroleum products, power and heat, require about four times of life-cycle water uses than its rural counterpart. Among all upstream sectors, while agricultural sectors accounted for the largest shares for all energy uses, oil and gas extraction made significant contributions to petroleum products and gas consumption.
Loss of work productivity in a warming world: Differences between developed and developing countries
Comparable estimates of the heat-related work productivity loss (WPL) in different countries over the world are difficult partly due to the lack of exact measures and comparable data for different counties. In this study, we analysed 4363 responses to a global online survey on the WPL during heat waves in 2016. The participants were from both developed and developing countries, facilitating estimates of the heat-related WPL across the world for the year. The heat-related WPL for each country involved was then deduced for increases of 1. 5, 2, 3 and 4 °C in the global mean surface temperature under the representative concentration pathway scenarios in climate models.
Loss of work productivity in a warming world: Differences between developed and developing countries
Comparable estimates of the heat-related work productivity loss (WPL) in different countries over the world are difficult partly due to the lack of exact measures and comparable data for different counties. In this study, we analysed 4363 responses to a global online survey on the WPL during heat waves in 2016. The participants were from both developed and developing countries, facilitating estimates of the heat-related WPL across the world for the year. The heat-related WPL for each country involved was then deduced for increases of 1. 5, 2, 3 and 4 °C in the global mean surface temperature under the representative concentration pathway scenarios in climate models.
Loss of work productivity in a warming world: Differences between developed and developing countries
Comparable estimates of the heat-related work productivity loss (WPL) in different countries over the world are difficult partly due to the lack of exact measures and comparable data for different counties. In this study, we analysed 4363 responses to a global online survey on the WPL during heat waves in 2016. The participants were from both developed and developing countries, facilitating estimates of the heat-related WPL across the world for the year. The heat-related WPL for each country involved was then deduced for increases of 1. 5, 2, 3 and 4 °C in the global mean surface temperature under the representative concentration pathway scenarios in climate models.
Cities: the core of climate change mitigation
Cities, the core of the global climate change mitigation and strategic low-carbon development, are shelters to more than half of the world population and responsible for three quarters of global energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG). This special volume (SV) provides a platform that promotes multi- and inter- disciplinary analyses and discussions on the climate change mitigation for cities. All papers are divided into four themes, including GHG emission inventory and accounting, climate change and urban sectors, climate change and sustainable development, and strategies and mitigation action plans. First, this SV provides methods for constructing emission inventory from both production and consumption perspectives.
Temporal change in India’s imbalance of carbon emissions embodied in international trade
Abstract In the building sector, concerns towards the vast energy consumption has promoted the development of renewable energy technologies. In this regards, the solar concentration devices show a promising concept for building applications. However, the solar concentrators for application in buildings have many restrictions, which are different from the traditional solar concentrators. The main objective of this paper is to present a concise review on the building integrated concentrating devices, that have their own characteristics and multiple functions. This paper made a classification based on device’s functions, i. e. building integrated concentrated photovoltaic systems (BICPV), building integrated concentrating solar thermal (BICST) and building integrated concentrating solar daylighting (BICSD) and the combination of functions, i.
Assessment of the pollution-health-economics nexus in China
Abstract. Serious haze can cause contaminant diseases that trigger productive labour time by raising mortality and morbidity rates in cardiovascular and respiratory diseases. Health studies rarely consider macroeconomic impacts of industrial interlinkages while disaster studies seldom involve air pollution and its health consequences. This study adopts a supply-driven input–output model to estimate the economic loss resulted from disease-induced working-time reduction across 30 Chinese provinces in 2012 using the most updated Chinese multiregional input–output table. Results show a total economic loss of CNY 398. 23 billion ( ∼ 1 % of China’s GDP in 2012), with the majority coming from Eastern China and the Mid-South.
Distinguishing Emission-Associated Ambient Air PM2. 5 Concentrations and Meteorological Factor-Induced Fluctuations
Although PM2. 5 (particulate matter with aerodynamic diameters less than 2. 5 μm) in the air originates from emissions, its concentrations are often affected by confounding meteorological effects. Therefore, direct comparisons of PM2. 5 concentrations made across two periods, which are commonly used by environmental protection administrations to measure the effectiveness of mitigation efforts, can be misleading. Here, we developed a two-step method to distinguish the significance of emissions and meteorological factors and assess the effectiveness of emission mitigation efforts. We modeled ambient PM2. 5 concentrations from 1980 to 2014 based on three conditional scenarios: realistic conditions, fixed emissions, and fixed meteorology.
Emissions and low-carbon development in Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area cities and their surroundings
Cities are the major contributors to energy consumption and CO2 emissions, as well as being leading innovators and implementers of policy measures in climate change mitigation. Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) is an agglomeration of cities put forward by China to strengthen international cooperation among “Belt and Road” countries and promote low-carbon, inclusive, coordinated and sustainable development. Few studies have discussed the emission characteristics of GBA cities. This study, for the first time, compiles emission inventories of 11 GBA cities and their surroundings based on IPCC territorial emission accounting approach, which are consistent and comparable with the national and provincial inventories.
Integrating Sustainability Into City-level CO2 Accounting: Social Consumption Pattern and Income Distribution
From a sustainability perspective, city-level CO2 emissions require reconsiderations. Correspondingly, the economy-environment-society nexus should be incorporated into city-scale CO2 accounting. Therefore, in this study, the semi-closed IO model is integrated with a HEM to calculate CO2 emissions arising from the social consumption pattern and income distribution, and to explore economic drivers behind CO2 variations. This method is applied to a case study of Beijing. Result demonstrate that Beijing in 2012 witnessed something different from that in 2005: (1) CO2 emissions centred in the internal linkages of a broader class of consumption terms with high economic output, mainly driven by interprovincial exports; (2) imports increasingly helped decarbonize the mixed, net forward and backward CO2 linkages of consumption items; and (3) income-driven CO2 emissions excluding demand-side parts persisted, which were more obvious on the supply side where households have more economy-wide effects.
Estimating household air pollution exposures and health impacts from space heating in rural China
Exposure to and the related burden of diseases caused by pollution from solid fuel cooking, known as household air pollution (HAP), has been incorporated in the assessment of the Global Burden of Diseases (GBD) project. In contrast, HAP from space heating using solid fuels, prevalent in countries at middle or high altitudes, is less studied and missing from the GBD assessment. China is an ideal example to estimate the bias of exposure and burden of diseases assessment when space heating is neglected, considering its remarkably changing demands for heating from the north to the south and a large solid-fuel-dependent rural population.
China’s energy consumption in the new normal
Energy consumption is one of main reasons for global warming and highly correlated with economic development. As the largest energy consumer worldwide, China has entered a new economic development model—the “new normal. ” This study aims to explore the pattern shift in China’s energy consumption growth in this new development phase. We use structural decomposition analysis and environmentally extended input‐output analysis to decompose China’s energy consumption changes during 2005–2012 into five factors: population, efficiency, production structure, consumption patterns, and consumption volume. During the period of the global financial crisis, the energy consumption generated by China’s exports dropped, while the energy consumption generated by capital formation grew rapidly.
Rapid growth of petroleum coke consumption and its related emissions in China
Petroleum coke, a non-environmentally friendly energy source, is gradually replacing other power fuels in China’s industrial enterprises because of its price advantage. Petroleum coke has high emission factors and thus emits more greenhouse gases (GHGs) and air pollutants than even raw coal. This study first examines the rapid growth of petroleum coke consumption in China since 2010 by industry sector and region and then estimates the petroleum coke-related emissions. We conclude that the total consumption of petroleum coke increased by 18. 9% from 2010 to 2016 and that the industry final consumption for burning in boilers increased dramatically (by 158.
Categorising virtual water transfers through China’s electric power sector
Water consumption in thermoelectric and hydropower plants in China increased from 1. 6 and 6. 1 billion m3, respectively, to 3. 8 and 14. 6 billion m3 from 2002 to 2010. Using the concept of virtual water, we attribute to different electricity users the total water consumption by the electric power sector. From 2002 to 2010, virtual water embodied in the final consumption of electricity (hereinafter referred to as VWEF) increased from 1. 90 to 7. 35 billion m3, whilst virtual water in electricity used by industries (hereinafter referred to as VWEI) increased from 5.
The global CO2 emission cost of geographic shifts in international sourcing
In this paper we simulated the global direct CO2 emission cost of geographic shift of international sourcing for the period 1995–2011 by comparing the scenarios with and without geographic shift. Our simulations indicate that in 2011, had the share of trade by the sourcing economy remained at the level of 1995, 2000, 2005, and 2008 whereas the global final demand remained the same, global CO2 emissions in production processes would have been 2. 8 Gt, 2. 0 Gt, 1. 3 Gt, and 540 Mt. , respectively, lower than the actual emissions.
Energy and carbon intensity: A study on the cross-country industrial shift from China to India and SE Asia
The potential relocation of various industrial sectors from China to India and countries of the SE Asian region presents low cost opportunities for manufacturers, but also risks rising for energy demand and CO2 emissions. A cross-country shift of industrial output would present challenges for controlling emissions since India and SE Asian countries present higher industrial emissions intensity than China. We find that although there is a convergence in emissions intensity in the machinery manufacturing and paper and pulp industries, there are significant variations in all other industrial sectors.
Estimating perfluorocarbon emission factors for industrial rare earth metal electrolysis
Rare earth (RE) metals have been widely applied in new materials, leading to their drastic production increase in the last three decades. In the production process featured by the molten-fluoride electrolysis technology, perfluorocarbon (PFC) emissions are significant and therefore deserve full accounting in greenhouse gas (GHG) emission inventories. Yet, in the ‘2006 IPCC Guidelines for National Greenhouse Gas Inventories’, no method currently exists to account for PFC emissions from rare earth metal production. This research aims to determine emission factors for industrial rare earth metals production through on-site monitoring and lab analysis of PFC concentrations in the exhaust gases from rare earth metal electrolysis.
exported carbon" peak: patterns, drivers, and implications
Over the past decade, China has entered a “new normal” phase in economic development, with its role in global trade flows changing significantly. This study estimates the driving forces of Chinese export‐embodied carbon emissions in the new normal phase, based on environmentally extended multiregional input‐output modeling and structural decomposition analysis. We find that Chinese export‐embodied CO2 emissions peaked in 2008 at a level of 1,657 million tones. The subsequent decline in CO2 emissions was mainly due to the changing structure of Chinese production. The peak in Chinese export‐embodied emissions is encouraging from the perspective of global climate change mitigation, as it implies downward pressure on global CO2 emissions.
Origin and Radiative Forcing of Black Carbon Aerosol: Production and Consumption Perspectives
Air pollution, a threat to air quality and human health, has attracted ever-increasing attention in recent years. In addition to having local influence, air pollutants can also travel the globe via atmospheric circulation and international trade. Black carbon (BC), emitted from incomplete combustion, is a unique but representative particulate pollutant. This study tracked down the BC aerosol and its direct radiative forcing to the emission sources and final consumers using the global chemical transport model (MOZART-4), the rapid radiative transfer model for general circulation simulations (RRTM), and a multiregional input-output analysis (MRIO).
The comprehensive environmental efficiency of socioeconomic sectors in China: An analysis based on a non-separable bad output SBM
The increasingly high frequency of heavy air pollution in most regions of China signals the urgent need for the transition to an environmentally friendly production performance by socioeconomic sectors. Focusing on CO2 and major air pollutants, this paper presents a comprehensive environmental efficiency index based on evaluating the environmental
A review of air pollution impact on subjective well-being: Survey versus visual psychophysics
Air pollution is a worldwide environmental and health issue, especially in major developing countries. A recent World Health Organization report shows about 3 million deaths in the world in 2012 are due to ambient air pollution and China and India are the countries with the most severe challenge. Air pollution influences people’s thought and experience of their lives directly by visual perceptions. This reduces people’s subjective well-being (SWB) to a significant degree. Empirical researchers have made efforts to examine how self-reported well-being varies with air quality typically by survey method – matching SWB data with monitored air pollution data.
How modifications of China’s energy data affect carbon mitigation targets
Frequent modifications to energy statistics have led to considerable uncertainty in China’s ability to achieve its carbon mitigation targets. Here, we quantitatively measure the impact of energy data revisions on China’s ability to achieve its mitigation targets.
Carbon emission imbalances and the structural paths of Chinese regions
As the Chinese regions become more and more connected to each other and foreign countries, this study aims to address carbon imbalance and outsourcing issues in China. Using a production-based carbon emission inventory and a China-global multi-regional input-output model, this study estimates the consumption-based carbon emissions in 30 Chinese reg
Reconciling discrepancies in the source characterization of VOCs
Emission inventory (EI) and receptor model (RM) are two of the three source apportionment (SA) methods recommended by Ministry of Environment of China and used widely to provide independent views on emission source identifications. How to interpret the mixed results they provide, however, were less studied. In this study, a cross-validation study was conducted in one of China’s fast-developing and highly populated city cluster- the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. By utilizing a highly resolved speciated regional EI and a region-wide gridded volatile organic compounds (VOCs) speciation measurement campaign, we elucidated underlying factors for discrepancies between EI and RM and proposed ways for their interpretations with the aim to achieve a scientifically plausible source identification.
Multi-objective analysis of the co-mitigation of CO2 and PM2.5 pollution by China’s iron and steel industry
China has experienced serious fine particulate matter (PM2. 5) pollution in recent years, and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions must be controlled so that China can keep its pledge to reduce CO2 emissions by 2030. The iron and steel industry is energy intensive and contributes significantly to PM2. 5 pollution in China. The simultaneous reduction of CO2 emissions and PM2. 5 pollution while minimizing the total mitigation costs remains a crucial issue that must be resolved. Using a multi-objective analysis, we compared potential technology combinations based on various policy preferences and targets.
The spatiotemporal features of greenhouse gases emissions from biomass burning in China from 2000 to 2012
Journal of Cleaner Production | February 03, 2018 The spatiotemporal features of biomass burning sources and greenhouse gases emissions have not been comprehensively uncovered. This research undertook IPCC bottom-up inventory guideline to estimate Chinese greenhouse gases emissions from biomass burning and applied geographical information system to
Patterns of CO2 emissions in 18 central Chinese cities from 2000 to 2014
Journal of Cleaner Production | January 20, 2018 With the Rise of Central China Plan, the central region has had a great opportunity to develop its economy and improve its original industrial structure. However, this region is also under pressure to protect its environment, keep its development sustainable and reduce carbon emissions. Therefore, ac
China CO2 emission accounts 1997-2015
China is the world’s top energy consumer and CO2 emitter, accounting for 30% of global emissions. Compiling an accurate accounting of China’s CO2 emissions is the first step in implementing reduction policies. However, no annual, officially published emissions data exist for China. The current emissions estimated by academic institutes and scholars exhibit great discrepancies. The gap between the different emissions estimates is approximately equal to the total emissions of the Russian Federation (the 4th highest emitter globally) in 2011. In this study, we constructed the time-series of CO2 emission inventories for China and its 30 provinces.
Chinese CO2 emission flows have reversed
This study seeks to estimate the carbon implications of recent changes in China’s economic development patterns and role in global trade in the post-financial-crisis era. We utilised the latest socioeconomic datasets to compile China’s 2012 multiregional input-output (MRIO) table. Environmentally extended input-output analysis and structural decomposition analysis (SDA) were applied to investigate the driving forces behind changes in CO2 emissions embodied in China’s domestic and foreign trade from 2007 to 2012. Here we show that emission flow patterns have changed greatly in both domestic and foreign trade since the financial crisis.
Assessment of the economic impacts of heat waves
Journal of Cleaner Production | October 09, 2017 Extreme heat can not only induce health outcomes in terms of excess mortality and morbidity (hospital admissions) but can also cause productivity losses for self-paced indoor workers and capacity losses for outdoor workers due to occupational safety requirements. All of these effects can be translate
Flood footprint of the 2007 floods in the UK
International headlines over the last few years have been dominated by extreme weather events, and floods have been amongst the most frequent and devastating. These disasters represent high costs and functional disruptions to societies and economies. The consequent breakdown of the economic equilibrium exacerbates the losses of the initial physical damages and generates indirect costs that largely amplify the burden of the total damage. Neglecting indirect damages results in misleading results regarding the real dimensions of the costs and prevents accurate decision-making in flood risk management.
Energy and emission in Tibet and cites
Abstract Because of its low level of energy consumption and the small scale of its industrial development, the Tibet Autonomous Region has historically been excluded from China’s reported energy statistics, including those regarding CO 2 emissions. In this paper, we estimate Tibet’s energy consumption using limited online documents, and we calculate the 2014 energy‐related and process‐related CO 2 emissions of Tibet and its seven prefecture‐level administrative divisions for the first time. Our results show that 5.52 million tons of CO 2 were emitted in Tibet in 2014; 33% of these emissions are associated with cement production. Tibet’s emissions per capita amounted to 1.
Global emission growth after international crisis
In this paper, we decompose the driving forces of global CO2 emissions for the post-crisis era 2008-2011 from both production-based and consumption-based aspects. The results suggest that non-OECD economies have become the major drivers for the rapid global growth of CO2 emissions after the crisis. The increasing consumption and investment of non-O
Multi-scale input-output analysis of consumption-based water resources: Method and application
This work develops a method of multi-scale input-output analysis for the embodied water accounting of an economy. This method can distinguish between the different virtual water contents of imported and local products and is therefore capable of estimating the virtual water that is embodied in trade.
City level emission accounts: method and application
Carbon accounting results for the same city can differ due to differences in protocols, methods, and data sources. A critical review of these differences and the connection among them can help to bridge our knowledge between university-based researchers and protocol practitioners in accounting and taking further mitigation actions. The purpose of this study is to provide a review of published research and protocols related to city carbon accounting, paying attention to both their science and practical actions. To begin with, the most cited articles in this field are identified and analyzed by employing a citation network analysis to illustrate the development of city-level carbon accounting from three perspectives.
Demand-driven air pollution in Guangdong
Cancer constitutes an enormous burden on society in more and less economically developed countries alike. The occurrence of cancer is increasing because of the growth and aging of the population, as well as an increasing prevalence of established risk factors such as smoking, overweight, physical inactivity, and changing reproductive patterns associated with urbanization and economic development. Based on GLOBOCAN estimates, about 14.1 million new cancer cases and 8.2 million deaths occurred in 2012 worldwide. Over the years, the burden has shifted to less developed countries, which currently account for about 57% of cases and 65% of cancer deaths worldwide.
Pattern changes in determinants of Chinese emissions
The Chinese economy has been recovering slowly from the global financial crisis, but it cannot achieve the same rapid development of the pre-recession period. Instead, the country has entered a new phase of economic development—a ‘new normal’. We use a structural decomposition analysis and environmental input–output analysis to estimate the determinants of China’s carbon emission changes during 2005–2012. China’s imports are linked to a global multi-regional input–output model based on the Global Trade and Analysis Project database to calculate the embodied CO2 emissions in imports. We find that the global financial crisis has affected the drivers of China’s carbon emission growth.
Performance of China’s Emission-Trading Scheme
No AccessWorld Development Indicators1 Feb 2013World Development Indicators 2008Authors/Editors: World BankWorld Bankhttps://doi.org/10.1596/978-0-8213-7386-6SectionsAboutPDF (11.2 MB)Other FormatsePUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract:Looking for accurate, up-to-date data on development issues? World Development Indicators is the World Bank’s premier annual compilation of data about development. This indispensable statistical reference allows you to consult over 900 indicators for some 150 economies and 14 country groups in more than 80 tables. It provides a current overview of the most recent data available as well as important regional data and income group analysis in six thematic sections: World View, People, Environment, Economy, States and Markets, and Global Links.
Consumption-based black carbon of China’s cities
Traffic congestion is one of the growing urban problem with associated problems like fuel wastage, loss of lives, and slow productivity. The existing traffic system uses programming logic control (PLC) with round-robin scheduling algorithm. Recent works have proposed IoT-based frameworks that use traffic density of each lane to control traffic movement, but they suffer from low accuracy due to lack of emergency vehicle image datasets for training deep neural networks. In this paper, we propose a novel distributed IoT framework that is based on two observations. The first observation is major structural changes to road are rare.
Variations of China’s emission estimates
Abstract. The accuracy of China’s energy statistics is of great concern because it contributes greatly to the uncertainties in estimates of global emissions. This study attempts to improve the understanding of uncertainties in China’s energy statistics and evaluate their impacts on China’s emissions during the period of 1990–2013. We employed the Multi-resolution Emission Inventory for China (MEIC) model to calculate China’s emissions based on different official data sets of energy statistics using the same emission factors. We found that the apparent uncertainties (maximum discrepancy) in China’s energy consumption increased from 2004 to 2012, reaching a maximum of 646 Mtce (million tons of coal equivalent) in 2011 and that coal dominated these uncertainties.
Multiple disasters management: Lessons from the Fukushima triple events
It has been five and a half years since the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) in March 2011. This study summarize management and policy lessons from the GEJE. The recovery efforts that followed the triple disasters: the earthquake, tsunami and meltdown of the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant are in progress. The experience of the GEJE and tsunami prompted the building of embankments throughout the Pacific coastal side of the Tohoku region. The Cabinet’s Reconstruction Headquarters used at least 19 trillion yen (
58 billion) for intensive reconstruction over five years through 2015.
Income-Based Greenhouse Gas Emissions of Nations
Accounting for greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions of nations is essential to understanding their importance to global climate change and help inform the policymaking on global GHG mitigation. Previous studies have made efforts to evaluate direct GHG emissions of nations (a. k. a. production-based accounting method) and GHG emissions caused by the final consumption of nations (a. k. a. consumption-based accounting method), but overlooked downstream GHG emissions enabled by primary inputs of individual nations and sectors (a. k. a. income-based accounting method). Here we show that the income-based accounting method reveals new GHG emission profiles for nations and sectors.
Global carbon uptake by cement carbonation
Calcination of carbonate rocks during the manufacture of cement produced 5% of global CO2emissions from all industrial process and fossil-fuel combustion in 2013. Here, we use new and existing data on cement materials during cement service life, demolition, and secondary use of concrete waste to estimate regional and global CO2 uptake between 1930
Carbon emissions of Beijing in 2012
Income-based accounting method reveals new GHG emission profiles for nations and sectors. The rapid development of mining industries drives income-based GHG emissions of resource-exporting nations (e.g., Australia, Canada, and Russia) during 1995-2009. Moreover, the rapid development of sectors producing basic materials and providing financial inte
Socioeconomic impact of China’s emissions peak
This paper summarizes the development process and main characteristics of the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), a set of four new pathways developed for the climate modeling community as a basis for long-term and near-term modeling experiments. The four RCPs together span the range of year 2100 radiative forcing values found in the open literature, i.e. from 2.6 to 8.5 W/m2. The RCPs are the product of an innovative collaboration between integrated assessment modelers, climate modelers, terrestrial ecosystem modelers and emission inventory experts. The resulting product forms a comprehensive data set with high spatial and sectoral resolutions for the period extending to 2100.
Tele-connecting local PM2.5 to global consumption
Globalization pushes production and consumption to geographically diverse locations and generates a variety of sizeable opportunities and challenges. The distribution and associated effects of short-lived primary fine particulate matter (PM2.5), a representative of local pollution, are significantly affected by the consumption through global supply chain. Tele-connection is used here to represent the link between production and consumption activity at large distances. In this study, we develop a global consumption-based primary PM2.5 emission inventory to track primary PM2.5 emissions embodied in the supply chain and evaluate the extent to which local PM2.5 emissions are triggered by international trade.
Mitigation in Chinese cities residential sector
Focusing on Beijing and Shanghai, this paper carries out a measures-based economic analysis of low carbon investment opportunities in the residential sector. Results find significant opportunity: between 2015 and 2030, BAU levels of CO2 emissions could be reduced by 10.2% in Beijing and 6.8% in Shanghai with the adoption of economically attractive
Determinants of global CO2 emissions growth
This paper analyzes global CO2 emissions growth by fossil fuel type (coal, oil or gas), demand type (consumption or investment), country group (developed or developing country) and industry group. The results indicate that, among the three fossil fuels, CO2 emissions from coal use grew the most rapidly in developing countries, by 3.76 Gt in the per
Risk assessment of oil price
The price gap between West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil markets has been completely changed in the past several years. The price of WTI was always a little larger than that of Brent for a long time. However, the price of WTI has been surpassed by that of Brent since 2011. The new market circumstances and volatility of oil price require a comprehensive re-estimation of risk. Therefore, this study aims to explore an integrated approach to assess the price risk in the two crude oil markets through the value at risk (VaR) model.
Global climate forcing and international trade
We contrast the direct radiative forcing of aerosols related to regions’ consumption of goods and services against the forcing due to emissions produced in each region. We find that global aerosol radiative forcing due to emissions produced in East Asia is much stronger than the forcing related to goods and services ultimately consumed in that regi
Take responsibility for electronic-waste disposal
The world is producing ever more electrical and electronic waste. The quantity of dumped computers, telephones, televisions and appliances doubled between 2009 and 2014, to 42 million tonnes per year globally. China processed about 70% of the world’s e-waste in 2012; the rest goes to India and other countries in eastern Asia and Africa, including N
Inter-regional trade flows in China
China has huge differences among its regions in terms of socio-economic development, industrial structure, natural resource endowments, and technological advancement. These differences have created complicated linkages between regions in China. In this study, building upon gravity model and location quotient techniques, we develop a sector-specific model to estimate inter-provincial trade flows, which is the base for making a multi-regional input-output table. In the model, we distinguish sectors with less intra-sector input from those with larger intra-sector input, and assume that the former sectors tend to compete among regions while the latter tend to cooperate among regions.
Consumption-based emission accounting for Chinese cities
We employ an input-output model to calculate consumption-based CO2 emissions for thirteen Chinese cities and find substantial differences between production- and consumption-based accounting in terms of both overall and per capita carbon emissions. Urban consumption not only leads to carbon emissions within a city’s own boundaries but also induces
Electrical vehicles and emissions mitigation in China
Replacement of gasoline cars with EVs causes greater impacts on total gasoline production than on total electricity generation. The gasoline vehicle replacement with EVs, powered by 80% coal, has no effect on overall emissions. The CO2 emissions reduction in the petroleum sector is offset by the increase in CO2 emissions in the electricity sector,
Socioeconomic Drivers of GHGs in the US
Existing studies examined the U. S. ‘s direct GHG emitters and final consumers driving upstream GHG emissions, but overlooked the U. S. ‘s primary suppliers enabling downstream GHG emissions and relative contributions of socioeconomic factors to GHG emission changes from the supply side. This study investigates GHG emissions of sectors in the U. S. from production-based (direct emissions), consumption-based (upstream emissions driven by final consumption of products), and income-based (downstream emissions enabled by primary inputs of sectors) viewpoints. We also quantify relative contributions of socioeconomic factors to the US’s GHG emission changes during 1995-2009 from both the consumption and supply sides, using structural decomposition analysis (SDA).
Emissions and trade: The post-China era
The so-called post-China countries (PC-16́s), distinguished by low wages and high economic growth, will replace China as the "world’s factory". The aim of this paper is to assess the effect of these changes on global CO2 emissions pathways. To achieve this, a counterfactual is proposed wherein China’s trade with the rest of the world is replaced by
CO2 Emissions from China’s Lime Industry
China is the world’s top energy consumer and CO2 emitter, accounting for 30% of global emissions. Compiling an accurate accounting of China’s CO2 emissions is the first step in implementing reduction policies. However, no annual, officially published emissions data exist for China. The current emissions estimated by academic institutes and scholars exhibit great discrepancies. The gap between the different emissions estimates is approximately equal to the total emissions of the Russian Federation (the 4th highest emitter globally) in 2011. In this study, we constructed the time-series of CO2 emission inventories for China and its 30 provinces.
Socioeconomic costs to China’s air pollution
This paper utilized a supply-driven input-output (I-O) model to estimate the monetary value of total output losses resulting from reduced working time caused by diseases related to air pollution across 30 Chinese provinces in 2007.
Virtual Water Flows in the EU27
Summary The use of water resources has traditionally been studied by accounting for the volume of water removed from sources for specific uses. This approach focuses on surface and groundwater only and it ignores that international trade of products with substantial amounts of embodied water can have an impact on domestic water resources. Using current economic and environmental data, we conduct a consumption‐based assessment of virtual water flows in the European Union (EU27). We find that the total water footprint (WF) of 2,280 cubic meters (m 3 ) per capita for the EU27 mostly consists of green water use (precipitation stored as soil moisture), which is omitted in the conventional water accounting.
China’s air pollution from production and consumption approaches
China has experienced unprecedented economic growth over the past two decades, accompanied by the development of large-scale industries and services. In the course of this expansion, medium-sized cities and small towns have sprung up around the larger cities, forming city clusters, often with similar or interdependent economies. The development of city clusters in China is somewhat similar to the formation of the megalopolis in the United States, as described by Gottmann (1961). However, there are some differences in terms of the number of cities in an area, their infrastructure, and the services they provide to the region, as compared to the US.
Driving forces of Chinese primary air pollution emissions
Journal of Cleaner Production | May 11, 2016 This study provides an interdisciplinary study to investigate the key contributors driving air pollution emissions changes in China from 1997 to 2012, by applying the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index method. The decomposition results are presented in both multiplicative and additive approaches to show the
Environment-economy tradeoff for Beijing regions
China’s economic reforms have resulted in spectacular growth and poverty reduction. However, China’s institutions look ill-suited to achieve such a result, and they indeed suffer from serious shortcomings. To solve the “China puzzle,” this paper analyzes China’s institution—a regionally decentralized authoritarian system. The central government has control over personnel, whereas subnational governments run the bulk of the economy; and they initiate, negotiate, implement, divert, and resist reforms, policies, rules, and laws. China’s reform trajectories have been shaped by regional decentralization. Spectacular performance on the one hand and grave problems on the other hand are all determined by this governance structure. (JEL O17, O18, O43, P21, P25, P26)
New provincial CO2 emission inventories in China
This study employs “apparent energy consumption” approach and updated emissions factors to re-calculate Chinese provincial CO2 emissions during 2000–2012 to reduce the uncertainty in Chinese CO2 emission estimates for the first time. The study presents the changing emission-socioeconomic features of each provinces as well. The results indicate that Chinese provincial aggregated CO2 emissions calculated by the apparent energy consumption and updated emissions factors are coincident with the national emissions estimated by the same approach, which are 12. 69% smaller than the one calculated by the traditional approach and IPCC default emission factors.
Revisiting global net emission transfers
Journal of Industrial Ecology | March 11, 2016 processing exports in China involves relatively lower CO2 emissions than other production types for the same output levels. Therefore, if processing exports are not appropriately distinguished, net CO2 emission exports from China to other regions will be distorted; the relative bias occasionally reache
Interprovincial Reliance for Improving Air Quality in China
Black carbon (BC) is of global concern because of its adverse effects on climate and human health. It can travel long distances via atmospheric movement and can be geographically relocated through trade. Here, we explored the integrated patterns of BC transport within 30 provinces in China from the perspective of meteorology and interprovincial trade using the Weather Research and Forecasting with Chemistry (WRF/Chem) model and multiregional input-output analysis. In general, cross-border BC transport, which accounts for more than 30% of the surface concentration, occurs mainly between neighboring provinces. Specifically, Hebei contributes 1.
Techno-economic drivers of CO2 emission changes
Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews | December 05, 2015 This paper extends the previous logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) decomposition model by introducing three novel factors (R&D intensity, investment intensity, and R&D efficiency).
Air pollution and human health at Pearl River Delta
Following a series of extreme air pollution events, the Chinese government released the Air Pollution Prevention and Control Action Plan in 2013 (China’s State Council 2013). The Action Plan sets clear goals for key regions (i.e. cities above the prefecture level, Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei Province, the Yangtze River Delta and the Pearl River Delta) an
Intercomparison of global MRIO databases
Global trade models based on MRIO tables are being used to calculate important economic and environmental indicators such as value added in trade or the carbon footprint of nations. Such applications are highly relevant in international trade and climate policy negotiations, and consequently MRIO model results are being scrutinized for their accura
China’s export related emissions, and the responsibility issue
protection of health in the near and long term. Several essential steps need to be taken to transform the economy to support planetary health. These steps include a reduction of waste through the creation of products that are more durable and require less energy and materials to manufacture than those often produced at present; the incentivisation of recycling, reuse, and repair; and the substitution of hazardous materials with safer alternatives.
Targeted opportunities to address the climate-trade dilemma in China
International trade has become the fastest growing driver of global carbon emissions, with large quantities of emissions embodied in exports from emerging economies. International trade with emerging economies poses a dilemma for climate and trade policy: to the extent emerging markets have comparative advantages in manufacturing, such trade is eco
Reduced emission estimates in China
Estimates of Chinese emissions remain subject to large uncertainty; inventories of China’s total fossil fuel carbon emissions in 2008 differ by 0.3 gigatonnes of carbon, or 15 per cent. The primary sources of this uncertainty are conflicting estimates of energy consumption and emission factors. Here we re-evaluate China’s carbon emissions using upd
China’s rising hydropower demand challenges water sector
Demand for hydropower is increasing, yet the water footprints (WFs) of reservoirs and hydropower, and their contributions to water scarcity, are poorly understood. Here, we calculate reservoir WFs (freshwater that evaporates from reservoirs) and hydropower WFs (the WF of hydroelectricity) in China based on data from 875 representative reservoirs (2
Steps to China’s carbon peak
This paper summarizes the development process and main characteristics of the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs), a set of four new pathways developed for the climate modeling community as a basis for long-term and near-term modeling experiments. The four RCPs together span the range of year 2100 radiative forcing values found in the open literature, i.e. from 2.6 to 8.5 W/m2. The RCPs are the product of an innovative collaboration between integrated assessment modelers, climate modelers, terrestrial ecosystem modelers and emission inventory experts. The resulting product forms a comprehensive data set with high spatial and sectoral resolutions for the period extending to 2100.
China’s toxic informal e-waste recycling
Access to clean water is one of the targets in the UN Sustainable Development Goals. However, millions of people are still without basic water services, predominantly in rural areas in developing nations. Previous studies have investigated the environmental impacts of water provision, but they mostly focused on large-scale urban systems. This paper considers for the first time the life cycle environmental impacts of different water supply options applicable to remote communities in developing countries. Focusing on the Southeast Asia-Pacific (SEAP) context, a cradle-to-grave approach is followed to estimate the impacts of locally-sourced groundwater, surface water and desalinated seawater as well as externally-sourced bottled water.
China’s virtual air pollution transport
Abstract. Substantial anthropogenic emissions from China have resulted in serious air pollution, and this has generated considerable academic and public concern. The physical transport of air pollutants in the atmosphere has been extensively investigated; however, understanding the mechanisms how the pollutant was transferred through economic and trade activities remains a challenge. For the first time, we quantified and tracked China’s air pollutant emission flows embodied in interprovincial trade, using a multiregional input–output model framework. Trade relative emissions for four key air pollutants (primary fine particle matter, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides and non-methane volatile organic compounds) were assessed for 2007 in each Chinese province.
Revealing the hidden health costs embodied in Chinese exports
China emits a considerable amount of air pollutants when producing goods for export. Previous efforts have emphasized the magnitude of export-related emissions; however, their health consequences on the Chinese population have not been quantified. Here, we present an interdisciplinary study to estimate the health impact of export-related air pollution. The results show that export-related emissions elevated the annual mean population weighted PM2. 5 by 8. 3 μg/m(3) (15% of the total) in 2007, causing 157,000 deaths and accounting for 12% of the total mortality attributable to PM2. 5-related air pollution.
Four system boundaries for carbon accounts
Knowing the carbon emission baseline of a region is a precondition for any mitigation effort, but the baselines are highly dependent on the system boundaries for which they are calculated. On the basis of sectoral energy statistics and a nested provincial and global multi-regional input-output model, we calculate and compare four different system b
Physical and virtual water transfers in China
Water can be redistributed through, in physical terms, water transfer projects and virtually, embodied water for the production of traded products. Here, we explore whether such water redistributions can help mitigate water stress in China. This study, for the first time to our knowledge, both compiles a full inventory for physical water transfers at a provincial level and maps virtual water flows between Chinese provinces in 2007 and 2030. Our results show that, at the national level, physical water flows because of the major water transfer projects amounted to 4.
Determinants of Stagnating Carbon Intensity in China
A systematic analysis shows that China’s climate policy on carbon intensity reduction may not help all Chinese regions to become more efficient and could actually lock the whole nation into a long-term emission-intensive economic structure.
Lifting China’s Water Spell
China is a country with significant but unevenly distributed water resources. The water stressed North stays in contrast to the water abundant and polluted South defining China’s current water environment. In this paper we use the latest available data sets and adopt structural decomposition analysis for the years 1992 to 2007 to investigate the driving forces behind the emerging water crisis in China. We employ four water indicators in China, that is, freshwater consumption, discharge of COD (chemical oxygen demand) in effluent water, cumulative COD and dilution water requirements for cumulative pollution, to investigate the driving forces behind the emerging crisis.
A Hybrid-Unit Energy Input-Output Model
This study develops a hybrid-unit energy input-output model with a disaggregated electricity sector for China. The model replaces primary energy rows in monetary value with physical flow units for coal, gas, crude oil, and renewable energy, enabling more accurate analysis of energy-economic-environmental interactions.
The socioeconomic drivers of China’s primary PM2.5
This study investigates the socioeconomic drivers of China’s primary PM2.5 emissions using structural decomposition analysis of multi-regional input-output data. It quantifies how economic development, industrial structure, energy intensity, and trade patterns contribute to particulate matter emissions across Chinese provinces, informing targeted air quality management policies.
China’s international trade and air pollution in the United States
No AccessWorld Development Report1 Feb 2013World Development Report 1992Development and the EnvironmentAuthors/Editors: World BankWorld Bankhttps://doi.org/10.1596/0-1952-0876-5AboutView ChaptersPDF (31.8 MB) ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareFacebookTwitterLinked In Abstract:This is the fifteenth in the annual series asse