A Comprehensive Evaluation of Carbon Emission Reduction Capability in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Decai Tang, Yan Zhang and Brandon J Bethel
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Decai Tang: China Institute of Manufacturing Development, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Yan Zhang: School of Management Science and Engineering, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China
Brandon J Bethel: School of Marine Sciences, Nanjing University of Information Science & Technology, Nanjing 210044, China

IJERPH, 2020, vol. 17, issue 2, 1-16

Abstract: The Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) is an essential part of China’s goal of reducing its national carbon emissions. Focusing on economic and social development, the development of science and technology, carbon sinks, energy consumption, and carbon emissions, this paper uses “the Technique for Order of Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution mode” (TOPSIS) and “an obstacle factor diagnosis method” to measure the reduction capacity of each province and municipality of the YREB. Key obstacles to achieving the goal of carbon emission reduction are also identified. The main finding is that the emission reduction capacities of Shanghai, Jiangsu and Zhejiang in China’s east is far greater than that of all other provinces and municipalities, the main obstacle of Shanghai, Jiangsu, and Zhejiang are carbon sinks, energy consumption and carbon emission, and other provinces and municipalities are social and economic development. Taking into consideration those evaluation results and obstacles, paths for carbon emission reduction are delineated through a four-quadrant matrix method with intent to provide suitable references for the development of a low-carbon economy in the YREB.

Keywords: Yangtze River Economic Belt; carbon emission reduction capacity; obstacle factor; emission reduction path (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (9)

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