Land-use emissions embodied in international trade

Science. 2022 May 6;376(6593):597-603. doi: 10.1126/science.abj1572. Epub 2022 May 5.

Abstract

International trade separates consumption of goods from related environmental impacts, including greenhouse gas emissions from agriculture and land-use change (together referred to as "land-use emissions"). Through use of new emissions estimates and a multiregional input-output model, we evaluated land-use emissions embodied in global trade from 2004 to 2017. Annually, 27% of land-use emissions and 22% of agricultural land are related to agricultural products ultimately consumed in a different region from where they were produced. Roughly three-quarters of embodied emissions are from land-use change, with the largest transfers from lower-income countries such as Brazil, Indonesia, and Argentina to more industrialized regions such as Europe, the United States, and China. Mitigation of global land-use emissions and sustainable development may thus depend on improving the transparency of supply chains.

MeSH terms

  • Agriculture
  • China
  • Commerce*
  • Europe
  • Greenhouse Gases*
  • Internationality

Substances

  • Greenhouse Gases