Mapping global carbon footprint in China

Yuantao Yang, Shen Qu (), Bofeng Cai, Sai Liang, Zhaohua Wang, Jinnan Wang and Ming Xu
Additional contact information
Yuantao Yang: Beijing Institute of Technology
Shen Qu: University of Michigan
Bofeng Cai: Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning
Sai Liang: School of Environment, Beijing Normal University
Zhaohua Wang: Beijing Institute of Technology
Jinnan Wang: Chinese Academy for Environmental Planning
Ming Xu: University of Michigan

Nature Communications, 2020, vol. 11, issue 1, 1-8

Abstract: Abstract Developing localized climate mitigation strategies needs an understanding of how global consumption drives local carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions with a fine spatial resolution. There is no study that provides a spatially explicit mapping of global carbon footprint in China―the world’s largest CO2 emitter―simultaneously considering both international and interprovincial trade. Here we map CO2 emissions in China driven by global consumption in 2012 at a high spatial resolution (10 km × 10 km) using a detailed, firm-level emission inventory. Our results show that the carbon footprints of foreign regions in China are concentrated in key manufacturing hubs, including the Yangtze River Delta, Pearl River Delta, and North China Plain. Approximately 1% of the land area holds 75% of the global carbon footprint in China. The carbon footprint hotspots in China identified are the key places in which collaborative mitigation efforts between China and downstream parties that drive those emissions.

Date: 2020
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (25)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-15883-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:11:y:2020:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-020-15883-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-15883-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().