What causes spatial carbon inequality? Evidence from China’s Yangtze River economic Belt

Abstract

Detecting spatial carbon inequality is critical to achieving regional emission reduction targets from the perspectives of ensuring equality and efficiency. While previous studies have measured spatial carbon inequality and identified its drivers, few studies have explored these drivers at a sectorial level. Taking China’s Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) as a case study example, this study explores the drivers of spatial carbon inequality at the sectoral level and reveals the following key points. (1) The regional heterogeneity in CO₂ emissions driven by economic factors have increased from 2002 to 2012. (2) The wide spatial differences in CO₂ emissions are driven by per capita final demand, production structure, and final demand structure. (3) Driven by emission intensity, the production structure, and the final demand structure effects, the Electricity and heat production and supply, Smelting and pressing of metals, and Nonmetal mineral products have become the most critical sectors aggravating the spatial carbon inequality. (4) Driven by the production structure and final demand structure, most of the middle and lower reaches of the YREB emit more CO₂ in the aforementioned sectors. Our findings support the implementation of coordinated emission reduction plans in the YREB region.

Keywords

• CO₂ emissions
• Inequality
• Drivers
• Spatial structural decomposition analysis
• Yangtze River economic Belt