Carbon implications of China’s changing economic structure at the city level

Abstract

Carbon emissions are strongly related to economic development. China has entered a new phase of economic development – “New Normal” – in which large-scale and multidimensional changes are occurring in the economic structure. This study aims to estimate the carbon implications of these changes in the economic structure at the city level. We compiled a multiregional input-output (MRIO) model for China and used an environmentally extended input-output analysis (EEIOA) to estimate CO2 emissions in Shanghai from both production and consumption perspectives. We found that consumption-based CO2 emissions were more than 30% higher than production-based emissions in Shanghai. In recent years, both production- and consumption-based CO2 emissions in Shanghai declined because of changes in China’s economic development mode. The production-based emissions declined mainly due to changes in the production structure and energy mix, while the consumption-based emissions declined mainly due to changes in consumption patterns and domestic interregional emission flows.