Unfolding carbon inequality across Belt and Road Initiative countries and regions under a global trade network

Zekun Lin, Fanxin Meng, Dongfang Wang, Danqi Liao, Yutong Sun, Jiaqi Hou, Gengyuan Liu, Biagio Fernando Giannetti, Feni Agostinho and Cecília M.V.B. Almeida

Ecological Modelling, 2023, vol. 482, issue C

Abstract: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) has boosted global trade and economic development. Carbon inequality embodied in global trade may occur across BRI countries and regions in the world. How to quantify this inequality is the key to achieving the green development of the Belt and Road. In this study, we constructed a methodological framework to analyze carbon inequality across BRI countries and regions under the global trade network. Results showed that nearly half of BRI countries and regions exported net embodied carbon emissions while obtaining net economic benefits. The most severe bilateral trade carbon inequality existed between China and BRI West Asia, whose bilateral trade carbon inequality index (BCI) reached 2.76. Except for Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, and BRI West Asia, BRI countries and regions were negatively affected by global trade carbon inequality, with China and India suffering the most, whose global trade carbon inequality indices (GCI) were -2.06 and -1.26, respectively. This methodological framework can be applied to analyze the inequality of other kinds of ecological impacts embodied in trade on any scale. Furthermore, this study can provide policy implications for the green development of the Belt and Road.

Keywords: Multi-regional input-output model; Carbon inequality; The Belt and Road Initative; Bilateral trade carbon inequality index; Global trade carbon inequality index (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:ecomod:v:482:y:2023:i:c:s0304380023001424

DOI: 10.1016/j.ecolmodel.2023.110411

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