Abstract
Due to increased global carbon dioxide emissions, the greenhouse effect is being aggravated, which has attracted wide attention. China is committed to promoting the low-carbon development of all industries. This paper analyzed the influencing factors of carbon emissions in the Chinese logistics industry, so as to identify the key factors that influence carbon emissions. Based on the carbon emission data of China’s logistics industry in 2000–2019, this paper applied the carbon emission coefficients issued by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. For the first time, the Generalized Divisia Index Method was used to analyze the degree of influence of the factors on carbon emissions. This method considered more variables and their relationships. The results showed that (1) the carbon emissions of the logistics industry were increased by 3.22 times from 2000 to 2018, and showed negative growth for the first time in 2019; (2) the added value of the logistics industry is the most important factor in increasing carbon emissions (with a contribution ratio of 65.45%), energy consumption and practical population size are the main factors in carbon emissions. The promotion of this industry is subjected to decreased per capita carbon emissions, which have a large impact on total carbon emissions; (3) the intensity of carbon output is the most important factor in the reduction of carbon emissions (with a contribution ratio of −29.1%), where the energy carbon intensity and per capita added value are the main influencing factors with regard to the reduction of carbon emissions, while energy intensity has a negative inhibitory effect on carbon emissions, and (4) the influencing factors have negative effects on the cumulative inhibition of carbon emissions in the logistics industry, to an extent that is far less than the integral promotion of carbon emissions. Finally, according to the research conclusions of this paper, it is feasible to make recommendations for the carbon reduction of the logistics industry.
Highlights
Since the 21st century, the concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has continued to increase, leading to the deterioration of global warming [1]
It can be seen that during the period from 2001 to 2019, the added value of the logistics industry, energy consumption, staff size, and per capita carbon emissions played a positive role in driving the change of carbon emissions; the output carbon intensity of the logistics industry and the per capita added value of the logistics industry played a negative driving role; and the carbon intensity of energy consumption in the logistics industry appeared to be both a positive and negative driver
Its driving effect was the strongest in the three time periods. This shows that the current development model of China’s logistics industry is reliant on the energy demand, and if the mandatory carbon dioxide emission reduction policy is implemented at this time, it will be at the expense of the development of the logistics industry
Summary
Since the 21st century, the concentration of greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has continued to increase, leading to the deterioration of global warming [1]. Climate change has become an urgent problem to be solved in the field of sustainable development around the world. In 2006, China’s carbon dioxide emissions (6378 Mt CO2) surpassed those of the United States (6050 MtCO2) for the first time, causing the country to become the world’s largest carbon dioxide emitter [4]. In 2018, the world’s total carbon dioxide emissions were 36,573 MtCO2, while China’s carbon dioxide emissions were 10,065 MtCO2, accounting for 27.52% of the global total—nearly twice that of the United States (5416 MtCO2). China has become the largest country in terms of carbon dioxide emissions in the world [5]
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
