The transformation and driving factors of multi-linkage embodied carbon emission in the Yangtze River Economic Belt

Ecological Indicators

Changyan Wu¹  Xiaowei Chuai²  Xianjin Huang²  Yaya Song³  Danyang Wang³  Xinxian Qi³ 

[1] Corresponding author at: School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, 163 Xianlin Avenue, Jiangsu Province 210023, China.;Key Laboratory of Coastal Zone Exploitation and Protection, Ministry of Natural Resources, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China;Laboratory of Carbon Neutrality and Territorial Space Optimization, School of Geography and Ocean Science, Nanjing University, Nanjing, Jiangsu 210023, China;

关键词: Multiregional input and output analysis;    Structural decomposition analysis;    Pollution haven hypothesis;    Consumption structure;    River basin environmental coordination;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

As the largest river in Asia with masses of population and industries along the riverside, the Yangtze River Economic Belt (YREB) produces tremendous carbon emissions. However, trade-induced environmental impacts of such a megaregion with multiple geographic linkages are always neglected in the river’s environmental policies, even as it is expected to change dynamically in the context of a transition period. By incorporating the megaregion scale into the multiregional input and output framework, our main findings are as follows: (1) The YREB region transformed from a traditional river basin to a comprehensive consumption-oriented economic belt. The proportions of the YREB region’s embodied emissions in local and international linkages are decreasing, while the proportions of that in cross reach and interregional linkages are increasing; (2) The YREB region exacerbates the gap between the north and the south by importing carbon emissions from the carbon-intensive north and exporting to the south with low emission intensity; (3) The Pollution Haven Hypothesis (PHH) effect held in 2002 in the cross reach linkage, while disappeared in 2012 due to changes in development and consumption patterns.Through structural decomposition analysis, this study detects driving factors of embodied emissions changes in multi linkages, and provides coordinating mitigation actions for the environmental governance of large river basins with comprehensive economic linkages.

【 授权许可】

Unknown