Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Evaluating the role of international trade in the growth of china’s CO2 emissions

  • Published:
Journal of Systems Science and Complexity Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

International trade matters in assessing the extent of China’s responsibility for CO2 emissions. A determining factor is whether emissions are measured in production or in consumption terms. Based on a series of input-output tables, an empirical analysis is conducted to measure the impact of international trade on China’s emissions growth during the period 1997 to 2007. The authors also measure the impact on emissions of bilateral trade between China and US, European Union and Japan. As the largest of the developing countries, China has a trade surplus that can substantially influence its measured responsibility for emissions. The authors consider some policy implications for international negotiations to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References (wenxian biaoti)

  1. Antweiler W, Copeland B R, and Taylor M S, Is free trade good for the environment? American Economic Review, 2001, 91(4): 877–908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Gallego B and Lenzen M, A consistent input-output formulation of shared producer and consumer responsibility, Economic Systems Research, 2005, 17(4): 365–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Copeland B R and Taylor M S, Free trade and global warming: A trade theory view of the kyoto protocol, Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2005, 49(2): 205–234.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  4. Copeland B R and Taylor M S, Trade, tragedy, and the commons, American Economic Review, 2009, 99(3): 725–749.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Rodrigues J, Domingos T, Giljum S, and Schneider F, Designing an indicator of environmental responsibility, Ecological Economics, 2006, 59(3): 256–266.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Wiedmann T, A review of recent multi-region input-output models used for consumption-based emission and resource accounting, Ecological Economics, 2009, 69(2): 211–222.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Peters G P, Minx J, Weber C L, and Edenhofer O, Growth in emission transfers via international trade from 1990 to 2008, National Academy of Sciences, 2011, 108(21): 8903–8908.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Su B, Huang H C, Ang B W, and Zhou P, Input-output analysis of CO2 emissions embodied in trade: The effects of sector aggregation, Energy Economic, 2010, 32(1): 166–175.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. Wiedmann T, Lenzen M, Turner K, and Barrett J, Examining the global environmental impact of regional consumption activities — Part 2: Review of input-output models for the assessment of environmental impacts embodied in trade, Ecological Economics, 2007, 61(1): 15–26.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Shui B and Harriss R C, The role of CO2 embodiment in US-China trade, Energy Policy, 2006, 34: 4063–4068.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Liu L and Ma X, CO2 embodied in China’s foreign trade 2007 with discussion for global climate policy, Procedia Environmental Sciences, 2011, 5: 105–113.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  12. Dong Y, Ishikawa M, Liu X, and Wang C, Analyses of CO2 emissions embodied in Japan-China trade, Energy Policy, 2010, 38: 1510–1518.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Li Y and Hewitt C N, The effect of trade between China and the UK on national and global carbon dioxide emissions, Energy Policy, 2008, 36: 1907–1914.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  14. Peters G P, Weber C L, Guan D, and Hubacek K, China’s growing CO2 emissions: A race between increasing consumption and efficiency gains, Environmental Science and Technology, 2007, 41: 5939–5944.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Peters G P and Hertwich E G, CO2 embodied in international trade with implications for global climate policy, Environmental Science and Technology, 2008, 42: 1401–1407.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. Boitier B, CO2 emissions production-based accounting vs consumption, insights from the WIOD databases, Final WIOD Conference: Causes and Consequences of Globalization, Groningen, the Netherlands, May, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  17. Ahmad N and Wyckoff A, Carbon dioxide emissions embodied in international trade of goods, OECD Science, Technology and Industry, Working Paper 15, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  18. Wang T and Watson J, Who owns China’s carbon emissions? Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research, Sussex, UK, 2007.

    Google Scholar 

  19. Weber C L, Peters G P, Guan D, and Hubacek K, The contribution of Chinese exports to climate change, Energy Policy, 2008, 36(9): 3572–3577.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. Lin B Q and Sun C W, Evaluating carbon dioxide emissions in international trade of China, Energy Policy, 2010, 38: 613–621.

    Article  MATH  Google Scholar 

  21. Yan Y F and Yang L K, China’s foreign trade and climate change: A case study of CO2 emissions, Energy Policy, 2010, 38: 350–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  22. Davis S J and Caldeira K, Consumption-based accounting for CO2 emissions, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), 2010, 107(12): 5687–5692.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Dietzenbacher E, Pei J S, and Yang C H, The environmental pains and economic gains of outsourcing to China, The Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 2012, 64: 88–101.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  24. Forssell O, Extending economy-wide models with environment-related parts, Economic Systems Research, 1998, 10(2): 183–199.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  25. Forssell O and Polenske K R, Introduction: Input-output and the environment, Economic Systems Research, 1988, 10(2): 91–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  26. Suh S and Kagawa S, Industrial ecology and input-output economics: An introduction, Economic Systems Research, 2005, 17(4): 349–364.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  27. Turner K, M Lenzen, Wiedmann T, and Barrett J, Examining the global environmental impact of regional consumption activities — Part 1: A technical note on combining input-output and ecological footprint analysis, Ecological Economics, 2007, 62(1): 37–44.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  28. Miller R E and Blair P D, Input-output analysis: Foundations and extensions, Second Edition, Englewood Cliffs, N.J., Prentice-Hall, 2009.

    Google Scholar 

  29. Choliz S J and Duarte R, CO2 emissions embodied in international trade: Evidence for Spain, Energy Policy, 2004, 32(18): 1999–2005.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  30. Wei Y M, Liu L C, Fan Y, and Wu G, China Energy Report 2008: CO2 Emissions Research, Science Press, Beijing, China, 2008.

  31. Zhang X P, Carbon dioxide emissions embodied in China’s foreign trade, Acta Geographica Sinica, 2009, 64(2): 234–242 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  32. Dervis K, de Melo J, and Robinson S, General Equilibrium Models for Development Policy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1982.

    Google Scholar 

  33. Lahr M, Reconciling domestication techniques, the notion of re-exports and some comments on regional accounting, Economic Systems Research, 2001, 13(2): 165–179.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  34. Timmer M, With other WIOD consortium members, The World Input-Output Database (WIOD): Contents, Sources and Methods, WIOD Working Paper 10, Groningen, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  35. Lau L J, Chen X K, et al., Non-competitive input-output model and its application: an examination of China-U.S. trade surplus, Social Sciences in China, 2007, 28(5): 91–103 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

  36. Genty A, Arto I, and Neuwahl F V R, Building a time series of environmental accounts for a word database, The 20th International Input-Output Conference, Bratislava, Slovak, June, 2012.

    Google Scholar 

  37. Feng K S, Siu Y L, Guan D B, and Hubacek K, Analyzing drivers of regional carbon dioxide emissions for China, Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2012, 16(4): 600–611.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  38. IEA, CO2 emissions from fuel combustion highlights 2010, International Energy Agency, Paris, 2010.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  39. Sinton J E and Fridley D G, What does up: Recent trends in China’s energy consumption, Energy Policy, 2000, 28: 671–687.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  40. Streets D G, Jiang K, Hu X, Sinton J E, Zhang X Q, Xu D, Jacobson M Z, and Hansen J E, Recent reductions in China’s greenhouse gas emissions, Science, 2001, 294: 1835–1837.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  41. Wu L, Kaneko S, and Matsuoka S, Driving forces behind the stagnancy of China’s energy-related CO2 Emissions from 1996 to 1999: The relative importance of structural change, Energy Policy, 2005, 33: 319–335.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  42. Fisher-Vanden K, Jefferson G H, Liu H, and Tao Q, What is driving China’s decline in energy intensity? Resource Energy Economics, 2004, 26: 77–97.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  43. Akimoto H, Ohara T, Kurokawa J, and Horii N, Verification of energy consumption in China during 1996–2003 by using satellite observational data, Atmospheric Environment, 2006, 40: 7663–7667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  44. Ashton J and Wang X, Equity and climate: In principle and practice, Pew Center on Global Change, 2003.

    Google Scholar 

  45. Qi Y, Li H M, and Xu M, Accounting embodied carbon in import and export in China, China population, Resources and Environment, 2008, 18(3): 8–13 (in Chinese).

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Forecasting Science, Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Xuemei Jiang

  2. Economics School, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, 100081, China

    Yifang Liu

  3. School of International Trade and Economics, University of International Business and Economics, Beijing, 100029, China

    Jin Zhang

  4. School of Management Science and Engineering, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing, 100081, China

    Lei Zu

  5. Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100190, China

    Shouyang Wang

  6. Department of Economics, McGill University, H3A0G4, Montreal, Canada

    Christopher Green

Authors
  1. Xuemei Jiang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Yifang Liu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Jin Zhang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Lei Zu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  5. Shouyang Wang
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  6. Christopher Green
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yifang Liu.

Additional information

This research is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grant Nos. 71103176, 71003115 and 71473246, Collaborative Innovation Center, and by Research Innovation Team Supporting Planof the Central University of Finance and Economics.

This paper was recommended for publication by Editor HONG Yiguang.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Jiang, X., Liu, Y., Zhang, J. et al. Evaluating the role of international trade in the growth of china’s CO2 emissions. J Syst Sci Complex 28, 907–924 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11424-015-2152-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11424-015-2152-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation