Research on global carbon emission flow and unequal environmental exchanges among regions

Abstract

Global carbon emissions have become a huge problem, which greatly accelerates the process of global warming. However, the flow and exchange of carbon emissions caused by international trade has further increased the difficulty of determining carbon emissions responsibilities and advancing world’s emission reductions. Based on the multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model, this study analysed the flow and outsourcing of carbon emissions among six regions of the world in 2014, and applied the regional environmental inequality (REI) index to measure the unequal environmental exchanges among regions. We found that global carbon emissions reached nearly 35Gt, of which more than 20% were outsourced to other regions. Especially developed regions, such as EU 28, USA and Japan, had significantly higher consumption-based carbon emissions than production-based carbon emissions. The unequal environmental exchanges mainly occurred between developed regions and underdeveloped regions. This paper can help to distinguish emission responsibilities of various regions of the world, and contribute to world emission reduction policies.