Abstract
A comprehensive analysis of the carbon emission profile of Chinese
provinces from multiple perspectives is required to develop equitable and
effective policies to reduce carbon emissions. This study estimates the carbon
dioxide (CO2) emission responsibilities of China’s 30 provinces and
22 sectors from production, consumption, and income-based perspectives from
2012 to 2017. Structural decomposition analysis (SDA) is used to determine the
driving forces of changes in CO2 emissions in China from 2012 to
2017. The results indicate the following. (1) The dominant CO2
emission sectors are the Electric Power, Steam, and Hot Water industry and the
Smelting and Pressing of Metals industry. (2) The scale effect of the initial
input is the dominant factor affecting the growth of CO2 emissions,
followed by the scale effect of the final demand from 2012 to 2017. (3) The
structural effect of the production output is the primary carbon reduction
factor, followed by the structural effect of the intermediate product input and
the carbon intensity effect. Based on these results, recommendations are
provided to reduce CO2 emissions, such as developing green and
low-carbon technologies, revising and optimizing the energy composition,
accelerating the green transition, and a science-based approach to investment.
Keywords: Multiple perspectives, China’s Provinces, Spatial-temporal
evolution, MRIO model, SDA model.