Carbon footprint, municipality size and rurality in Spain: Inequality and carbon taxation

Abstract

By using an environmentally extended multi-regional input-output model, this paper analyses the Spanish households’ carbon footprint for the 2008–2017 period considering the municipality size as well as the urban or rural residential zone where families live. Results show that, on a per capita basis, inhabitants of medium-large municipalities emit fewer carbon emissions than those settled in small ones (between 0.34 and 0.54 tCO2/cap depending on the year studied). This carbon unbalance is mainly explained by the higher direct carbon footprints of dwellers who reside in small municipalities and, in special, in rural zones. Furthermore, applying inequality measures through a consumption-based carbon footprint Gini coefficient, we show that both income and CO2 emissions inequality are lower in small municipalities. In the light of the findings, in Spain, the application of a carbon pricing on direct and indirect carbon footprints will be regressive, disproportionally affecting people of small municipalities and rural areas. Accordingly, household carbon inequalities must be contemplated to avoid poorly designed climate change mitigation policies.