Quantitative evaluation of time-series GHG emissions by sector and region using consumption-based accounting

Abstract

This study estimates global time-series consumption-based GHG emissions by region from 1990 to 2005, including both CO2 and non-CO2 GHG emissions. Estimations are conducted for the whole economy and for two specific sectors: manufacturing and agriculture. Especially in the agricultural sector, it is important to include non-CO2 GHG emissions because these are the major emissions present. In most of the regions examined, the improvements in GHG intensities achieved in the manufacturing sector are larger than those in the agricultural sector. Compared with developing regions, most developed regions have consistently larger per-capita consumption-based GHG emissions over the whole economy, as well as higher production-based emissions. In the manufacturing sector, differences calculated by subtracting production-based emissions from consumption-based GHG emissions are determined by the regional economic level while, in the agricultural sector, they are dependent on regional production structures that are determined by international trade competitiveness. In the manufacturing sector, these differences are consistently and increasingly positive for the U.S., EU15 and Japan but negative for developing regions. In the agricultural sector, the differences calculated for the major agricultural importers like Japan and the EU15 are consistently positive while those of exporters like the U.S., Australia and New Zealand are consistently negative.