Temporal changes of carbon emission transmissions in China’s supply chain, 1997–2017

Abstract

As the largest carbon emitter, China has a heavy task to allocate responsibilities in all stakeholders of supply chain. Previous studies have underestimated the transmission-related responsibility for carbon emissions reduction along supply chain. This study aims to combine Structural Path Analysis (SPA) and transmission-based betweenness (TBB) model to trace the critical transmission paths and nodes from production origins to final demand destinations of China in 1997–2017. Results show that: (1) Emission-mitigating responsibilities vary greatly under three types of emission accounting methods. Energy-intensive sectors (i.e., PSE, NMM and MES) are the largest emitters for production-based emission (PBE), and CON and SER are main contributors with high consumption-based emission (CBE). While the sectors with high transmission-based emission (TBE) have usually been neglected and converged in manufacturing sectors, including WAP and EOE for consumption, TEX for investment, TEX and MEP for export. Transmissions of carbon emission among the critical sectors are strengthened. (2) Final demand structure is shifting from the consumption-oriented (1997–2002), export-oriented (2002–2007), investment-oriented (2007–2012) to the consumption-oriented (2012–2017). The responsible sectors to satisfy consumption, investment and export show great disparity, namely SER, CON and PSE respectively. Cleaner energy structure (i.e., decreasing coal-related emissions and increasing gas-related emissions) is attributed to PSE, MES, TRW and SER. (3) Some transmission paths (staring from production side to consumption side) with more emissions, including “PSE→consumption”, “CON→NMM→investment” and “WHR→export” deserve more attention. This study provides implications for the greening of supply chain and allocation of emission-mitigating responsibilities fairly.