Measurement of Embodied Carbon Emission of Trade and Responsibility Sharing Mechanism design: A case of Six Central Provinces of China

Abstract

In the face of the “ 3 0- 6 0” target, the task of carbon emission reduction in China is particularly arduous. Due to factors such as energy resource endowment and economic and industrial structure, there are large spatial differences in carbon emission levels among regions in China. As a representative region of t h e traditional energy industrial structure, the huge energy consumption of the industrial sector in the central region has caused a large amount of carbon emissions. Based on the MRIO model, this paper measures the embodied carbon emissions of trade and the amount of carbon emissions that the regions should bear in 2012 and 2017 for the eight major regions in China. We found that there is large difference in carbon emissions among the eight regions in China, with the central region ranking first in the country, and this difference is also manifested in the provinces of the central region. In addition, under the producer responsibility principle, the problem of carbon leakage between developed and less developed regions is becoming more prominent, with the central and western regions acting as a “ pollution haven” . Further, to rationalize the carbon emission responsibilities of each region, this paper proposes a shared responsibility scheme and compares it with the producer and consumer responsibility systems. This paper is of practical and theoretical reference significance for the scientific delineation of carbon emission reduction responsibilities and the effective promotion of the overall carbon peaking goal.