•Global atmospheric mercury emissions embodied in trade are uncovered•China, Indonesia, and India are major primary suppliers causing Hg emissions•Primary inputs of Australia, the US, and Japan mainly cause Hg emissions in China•Critical supply-chain paths inducing global atmospheric Hg emissions are revealed Mercury poisoning is highly detrimental to life. Minamata disease, a result of severe mercury poisoning, has claimed thousands of lives, yet mercury is still released into the environment today. The Minamata Convention on Mercury, adopted in 2013, requires signatories to enact measures to control mercury pollution. Current measures focus on controlling direct mercury emissions from production activities within individual nations. However, emissions are partly driven by primary inputs of foreign nations through global supply chains. Identifying the production point is insufficient. This study uncovers atmospheric mercury emissions from the supply perspective for the year 2015. Results show that the most critical primary suppliers are China, Indonesia, and India, and critical industries relate to resource extraction and power generation. The outcome can help support supply-side policy decisions, including optimization of structures of labor and capital inputs, adjustment of tax rates and subsidies, and contributions to global regulations, such as establishing mechanisms of financial aid and international cooperation. The Minamata Convention on Mercury, which came into force in 2017, aims to control mercury-related risks to human beings and ecosystems by reducing anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions. Existing studies have identified direct atmospheric Hg emitters and final consumers causing atmospheric Hg emissions but overlooked primary suppliers driving atmospheric Hg emissions through global supply chains. Here, we identify critical primary suppliers and supply-chain paths for global atmospheric Hg emissions in 2015. Results show that China, Indonesia, and India are major primary suppliers causing global atmospheric Hg emissions. Major sectors and critical supply-chain paths from the supply viewpoint are related to resource extraction and power generation. Findings of this study can support supply-side measures to implement the Minamata Convention on Mercury, such as the optimization of labor and capital input structures and the optimization of product-allocation behaviors to downstream producers. The Minamata Convention on Mercury, which came into force in 2017, aims to control mercury-related risks to human beings and ecosystems by reducing anthropogenic mercury (Hg) emissions. Existing studies have identified direct atmospheric Hg emitters and final consumers causing atmospheric Hg emissions but overlooked primary suppliers driving atmospheric Hg emissions through global supply chains. Here, we identify critical primary suppliers and supply-chain paths for global atmospheric Hg emissions in 2015. Results show that China, Indonesia, and India are major primary suppliers causing global atmospheric Hg emissions. Major sectors and critical supply-chain paths from the supply viewpoint are related to resource extraction and power generation. Findings of this study can support supply-side measures to implement the Minamata Convention on Mercury, such as the optimization of labor and capital input structures and the optimization of product-allocation behaviors to downstream producers. Mercury (Hg) emissions to the atmosphere have adverse impacts on human beings and ecosystems. The methylation of Hg can produce methylmercury (MeHg), which is severely detrimental to life.1Chen L. Liang S. Liu M. Yi Y. Mi Z. Zhang Y. Li Y. Qi J. Meng J. Tang X. et al.Trans-provincial health impacts of atmospheric mercury emissions in China.Nat. 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Identifying critical sectors and supply chain paths for the consumption of domestic resource extraction in China.J. Clean. Prod. 2019; 208: 1577-1586Crossref Scopus (29) Google Scholar Moreover, these supply-chain paths can be used for assessing how policy interventions in a sector are transferred across the whole supply chains. However, such critical supply-chain paths driving global atmospheric Hg emissions have not been investigated in existing studies. This study analyzes income-based atmospheric Hg emissions of nations and sectors by using the global environmentally extended multi-regional input-output (EE-MRIO) model. We also reveal critical supply-chain paths driving global atmospheric Hg emissions by the structural path analysis (SPA) based on the global EE-MRIO model. Moreover, we compare income-based results with production-based and consumption-based results and find that income-based results can uncover new findings and policy implications for global Hg control. Results show that, from the supply viewpoint, China, Indonesia, and India are major primary suppliers causing global atmospheric Hg emissions, and major sectors and critical supply-chain paths are related to resource extraction and power generation. Figure 1A shows that China, Indonesia, and India (followed by Colombia, Peru, Russian Federation [Russia], and the United States [US]) were the top three primary suppliers causing global atmospheric Hg emissions in 2015. Income-based atmospheric Hg emissions of China were 465 tons, occupying 21.5% of the global total. Income-based atmospheric Hg emissions of Indonesia and India were 113 tons (5.2% of the global total) and 100 tons (4.6% of the global total), respectively. Figure 1A also shows the differences among income-based, production-based, and consumption-based atmospheric Hg emissions of nations, reflecting the differences in the degrees of importance for each nation’s role in global supply chains. China’s production-based and consumption-based atmospheric Hg emissions are larger than its income-based emissions. This indicates that, in terms of atmospheric Hg emissions, China is more important as a direct emitter and a final consumer than as a primary supplier. Income-based atmospheric Hg emissions of Indonesia, Colombia, and Peru are close to their production-based emissions. Consumption-based atmospheric Hg emissions of India, the US, Japan, and Germany are larger than their production-based and income-based emissions, reflecting their more important roles as final consumers than as direct emitters and primary suppliers. In global supply chains, Russia, Brazil, South Africa, Kazakhstan, Australia, and Chile are more important as primary suppliers than as direct emitters and final consumers. Russia is a major resource supplier in the world. Its resource supply leads to downstream production and associated atmospheric Hg emissions. Its income-based atmospheric Hg emissions were 69 tons in 2015, 12% higher than its production-based emissions and 53% higher than its consumption-based emissions. Brazil, South Africa, and Kazakhstan are large exporters of fossil fuels, metal ores, and minerals. Their income-based atmospheric Hg emissions were 45%, 30%, and 33% higher than their consumption-based emissions, respectively. Australia exports a large number of minerals and metal ores, and its income-based atmospheric Hg emissions (19 tons) were 145% higher than its production-based emissions (8 tons). For Chile, the income-based emissions (13 tons) were 47% higher than its consumption-based emissions (9 tons). Figure 1B shows income-based atmospheric Hg emissions of sectors. Sectors with large income-based atmospheric Hg emissions are generally related to basic materials and basic services. For example, the “mining and quarrying of non-energy-producing product” sector has the largest income-based atmospheric Hg emissions (629 tons, occupying 29% of the global total) because natural resources from this sector (e.g., metal ores and minerals) are essential to most of the downstream industries discharging atmospheric Hg. These natural resources are mostly allocated to intermediate producers rather than final consumers. Therefore, income-based atmospheric Hg emissions of the “mining and quarrying of non-energy-producing product” sector are significantly higher than its consumption-based emissions. The “electricity, gas, water supply, sewerage, waste, and remediation service” and “mining and extraction of energy-producing product” sectors are ranked second and third, respectively, in income-based results because energy sources are also essential to downstream industrial emitters. Sectors producing finished products, such as construction, machinery, equipment, and public and social services, have higher consumption-based atmospheric Hg emissions than production-based and income-based emissions because the products of these sectors are mainly purchased by final consumers. At the nation-sector level (Figure 1C), nation sectors with the largest income-based atmospheric Hg emissions include the “mining and quarrying of non-energy-producing product” sector of the rest of the world (RoW), the “electricity, gas, water supply, sewerage, waste, and remediation service” sector of the RoW, the “mining and extraction of energy-producing product” sector of the RoW, the “mining and quarrying of non-energy-producing product” sector of Indonesia, and the “electricity, gas, water supply, sewerage, waste, and remediation service” sector of China. It is worth noting that the “financial and insurance activity” sector of China ranked 119th and 261st in production-based and consumption-based results but 14th in income-based results (Figure S1). The “financial and insurance activity” sector is an intermediate stage of the global supply chains. It has a small amount of direct atmospheric Hg emissions, and most of its products are not consumed by final consumers. However, its financial investment is essential to other sectors and causes downstream production and associated atmospheric Hg emissions. Figure 2 shows the sectoral composition of each nation’s income-based, production-based, and consumption-based results. Sectors with large production-based atmospheric Hg emissions are closely related to fossil fuel combustion, mineral ore mining and smelting, and waste-treatment activities, such as the “electricity, gas, water supply, sewerage, waste, and remediation service,” “mining and quarrying of non-energy-producing product,” and “basic metal” sectors. Sectors with large consumption-based emissions mainly produce finally consumed products, such as the “construction" and "electricity, gas, and water” sectors and sectors related to the manufacturing of machinery and equipment. The final consumption of products from these sectors drives large amounts of upstream atmospheric Hg emissions. Sectors with large income-based emissions are mainly associated with resource extraction, energy and power production, the production of basic materials, and commercial services, such as the “mining and quarrying of non-energy-producing product,” “mining and extraction of energy-producing product,” “electricity, gas, water supply, sewerage, waste, and remediation service,” “basic metal,” and “other business sector service” sectors. Their primary inputs cause large amounts of downstream atmospheric Hg emissions. There are obvious differences in the sectoral structure of income-based Hg emissions between nations that are members of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD nations) and nations that are not (non-OECD nations). For non-OECD nations, sectors producing fossil fuels, metal ores, and other minerals have relatively large proportions in income-based Hg emissions. Resources extracted in non-OECD nations cause large amounts of downstream production activities and atmospheric Hg emissions through global supply chains. These resource-extraction sectors are generally not important in OECD nations. International trade leads to the flows of atmospheric Hg emissions embodied in commodity trade. The differences in embodied atmospheric Hg flows between exports and imports are defined as the net embodied Hg flows in this study. Figure 3 shows the major net international embodied Hg flows from direct Hg emitters to primary suppliers (Figure 3A) and from direct Hg emitters to final consumers (Figure 3B) in 2015. Figure 3A shows that Australia-China was the most significant international supplier-emitter pair for global atmospheric Hg emissions in 2015 with 6.9 tons of net embodied Hg flows. Primary inputs of Australia caused 7.0 tons of atmospheric Hg emissions in China in 2015, where the primary contributors were the “mining and quarrying of non-energy-producing product,” “wholesale and retail trade,” and “mining and extraction of energy-producing product” sectors of Australia (occupying 42%, 10%, and 9%, respectively, as Figure 4 shows). This finding can be validated by the significant volumes of resource trade between Australia and China. US-China was the second-most-significant international pair, and its net embodied Hg flows were 5.6 tons. Primary inputs of the US caused 6.1 tons of atmospheric Hg emissions in China, where the primary contributors were the “wholesale and retail trade,” “other business sector service,” and “chemical and pharmaceutical product” sectors of the US (Figure 4). Japan-China ranked third with 3.9 tons of net embodied Hg flows. Primary inputs of Japan caused 4.2 tons of atmospheric Hg emissions in China, and the major primary suppliers were the “wholesale and retail trade,” “chemical and pharmaceutical product,” and “basic metal” sectors of Japan. Other significant international supplier-emitter pairs included Saudi Arabia-China (net 3.4 tons), South Korea-China (net 3.1 tons), Saudi Arabia-India (net 2.2 tons), Germany-China (net 2.1 tons), and Russia-China (net 2.0 tons). We also investigated the major net international embodied Hg flows from direct Hg emitters to final consumers in 2015 (Figure 3B). We observed significant differences in net international embodied Hg flows between income-based results (Figure 3A) and consumption-based results (Figure 3B). For example, major international supplier-emitter pairs included Australia-China, US-China, Japan-China, Saudi Arabia-China, South Korea-China, Saudi Arabia-India, Germany-China, and Russia-China. However, major international consumer-emitter pairs were US-China, China-Peru, US-Colombia, US-Peru, Japan-Indonesia, Japan-China, India-Indonesia, China-Indonesia, and US-India. The important roles of resource-exporting nations (e.g., Australia, Saudi Arabia, and Russia) as primary suppliers for China can be revealed by income-based results but cannot be uncovered by consumption-based results. Meanwhile, consumption-based results suggest that China is a critical final consumer for Colombia and Peru. However, income-based results reveal that China is not a critical primary supplier for Colomb