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Carbon emissions in China's trade

Nature Climate Change volume 3, pages 703–704 (2013)Cite this article

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A large share of China's carbon emissions is linked to consumption that takes place in its most developed provinces and overseas. A study highlights the implications of considering those emissions in the country's climate policy.

China is a global carbon crossroads. Wealthy eastern coastal provinces import carbon-intensive goods from the country's less affluent centre and west. But China also exports carbon to consumers abroad, particularly in Europe, Japan and the United States. A key question is whether and how policy can hold consumers responsible for the direct and indirect emissions in the goods they buy. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, Feng and colleagues1 illustrate the magnitude of this challenge by linking over half of China's domestic emissions to consumption in the wealthy parts of China and overseas.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Valerie J. Karplus is at the MIT Joint Program on the Science and Policy of Global Change, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Building E19-429ha, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139, USA,

    Valerie J. Karplus

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  1. Valerie J. Karplus
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Correspondence to Valerie J. Karplus.

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Karplus, V. Carbon emissions in China's trade. Nature Clim Change 3, 703–704 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate1967

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