Carbon Communities and Hotspots for Carbon Emissions Reduction in China

Li Huang, Scott Kelly, Xuan Lu, Kangjuan Lv, Xunpeng Shi and Damien Giurco
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Li Huang: School of Economics, Shanghai University, Shanghai 200444, China
Xuan Lu: Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Sydney, NSW 2000, Australia
Kangjuan Lv: SHU-UTS SILC Business School, Shanghai University, Shanghai 201800, China
Damien Giurco: University of Technology Sydney, Institute for Sustainable Futures, Sydney, NSW 2007, Australia

Sustainability, 2019, vol. 11, issue 19, 1-29

Abstract: With China’s commitment to peak its emissions by 2030, sectoral emissions are under the spotlight due to the rolling out of the national emission trading scheme (ETS). However, the current sector policies focus either on the production side or consumption while the majority of sectors along the transmission were overlooked. This research combines input–output modelling and network analysis to track the embodied carbon emissions among thirty sectors of thirty provinces in China. Based on the large-data resolution network, a two-step network reduction algorithm is used to extract the backbone of the network. In addition, network centrality metrics and community detection algorithms are used to assess each individual sector’s roles, and to reveal the carbon communities where sectors have intensive emission links. The research results suggest that the sectors with high out-degree, in-degree or betweenness can act as leverage points for carbon emissions mitigation. In addition to the electricity sector, which is included in the national ETS, the study also found that the metallurgy and construction sectors should be prioritized for emissions reduction from national and local levels. However, the hotpots are different across provinces and thus provincial specific targeted policies should be formed. Moreover, there are nineteen carbon communities in China with different features, which provides direction for provincial governments’ external collaboration for synergistic effects.

Keywords: China; carbon emissions; network analysis; input–output analysis; climate change; policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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