• Energy Research
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There are substantial differences in carbon footprints across households. This study applied an environmentally extended multiregional input–output approach to estimate household carbon footprints for 12 different income groups of China’s 30 regions. Subsequently, carbon footprint Gini coefficients were calculated to measure carbon inequality for households across provinces. We found that the top 5% of income earners were responsible for 17% of the national household carbon footprint in 2012, while the bottom half of income earners caused only 25%. Carbon inequality declined with economic growth in China across space and time in two ways: first, carbon footprints showed greater convergence in the wealthier coastal regions than in the poorer inland regions; second, China’s national carbon footprint Gini coefficients declined from 0.44 in 2007 to 0.37 in 2012. We argue that economic growth not only increases income levels but also contributes to an overall reduction in carbon inequality 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 upgrading (i.e., industrial structure, energy mix and regional structure). Regional structure, measured by provincial economic growth shares, has drastically reduced CO2 emissions since 2012. The effects of these drivers on emissions changes varied across regions due to their different regional development patterns. Industrial structure and energy mix resulted in emissions growth in some regions, but these two drivers led to emissions reduction at the national level. For example, industrial structure reduced China’s CO2 emissions by 1.0% from 2013-2016; however, it increased CO2 emissions in the Northeast and Northwest regions by 1.7% and 0.9%, respectively. By studying China’s plateauing CO2 emissions in the new normal stage at the regional level, it is recommended that regions cooperate to improve development patterns.

Carbon emission inventories are the foundations of climate change mitigation and adaptation in cities. In this study, we estimated production-based CO 2 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 CO 2 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. Emissions embodied in imports accounted for more than half of the consumption-based emissions in most cities, which shows the significance of interregional cooperation in tackling climate change. International cooperation is also important at the city level, as international imports also impact consumption-based emissions. From the perspective of final use, emissions caused by fixed capital formation predominated in most cities and were determined by their economic development models.

Summary Fine-particulate-matter pollution (PM2.5) is linked to millions of deaths annually. Consumption in one region can cause production and PM2.5 emissions in another, but the socioeconomic drivers of transboundary PM2.5 emissions are not fully understood. Here, we quantify the driving factors of primary-particle and oxidized-precursor emissions from 2004 to 2011 at global and regional scales. The results indicate that the growth rate of global PM2.5 emissions slowed from 2004 to 2011, mainly due to improvements in energy intensities and production efficiency. Improvements in the emission intensity of coal represent the main factor offsetting SO2 and NOx emissions, whereas emission controls implemented for industrial processes have largely contributed to reducing primary PM2.5 emissions. The net emissions embodied in East Asia's exports to developed countries declined, while that to developing countries increased rapidly. The analysis creates opportunities to involve both producers and consumers in co-mitigation of various pollutants.