Dynamic features and driving forces of indirect CO2 emissions from Chinese household: A comparative and mitigation strategies analysis

Abstract

Controlling CO2 emissions (CEs) is an important measure to mitigate global climate change. In recent years, the research on household consumption and its environmental impact has become a research hotspot in the field of sustainable development. Taking 2000–2014 as the research period, this paper studies the indirect CO2 emissions of household consumption (ICEs-HC) in China by using the Multi-region Input-Output model. Then the structural decomposition analysis method is used to analyze the driving factors of ICEs-HC. The results show that: (1) During the study period, ICEs-HC in China showed an increasing trend. The total ICEs-HC increased by 1.90 times, and the per capita ICEs-HC increased by 1.76 times. (2) ICEs-HC in China are concentrated mainly in Commercial and Public Services (CPS), Electricity, Gas, Steam and Air Conditioning Supply (EGSA), and Manufacture of Food and Tobacco (MFT), which accounted for 26.63%, 17.69% and 13.52%, respectively, of the total emissions in 2014. (3) China has been in the position of net outflow of ICEs-HC. (4) The growth of per capita household consumption is the main factor promoting the growth of ICEs-HC in China, and the reduction of carbon intensity in various countries is the main factor in restraining ICEs-HC in China. This study shows that ICEs-HC in China are likely to rise, and the government should not only constantly improve the level of household consumption, but also actively adjust the industrial structure and optimize the consumption structure to alleviate CEs effectively.