Countries’ Responsibilities for Carbon Emission A Comparative Study between Two Principles

DOI: 10.5176/2251-189X_SEES15.03

Authors: Jin Guo and Yingzhi Xu

Abstract:

In open economy, embodied carbon dioxide emissions in international trade should be taken into consideration to define each country’s emissions responsibility scientifically. In this study, a multi-regional input-output model is constructed to calculate the embodied carbon dioxide emissions of 25 WTO members including China according to the producer - consumer shared responsibility principal. The study indicate that: (1) it is fairer and more efficient to identify each country’s carbon dioxide emissions responsibility according to shared responsibility principle; (2) China’s producer responsibility is 1.4 times that of America’s, while China’s consumer responsibility is only one-tenth of that of America’s; (3) according to the producer responsibility principle, China shoulders the biggest responsibility. While according to the shared responsibility principle, China’s responsibility gets a large decrease. The resource endowment, economic development stage and the trade structure can account for the abovementioned changes of China’s emissions responsibility.

Keywords: embodied carbon emission; shared principle; multi-regional input-output model