A provincial lateral carbon emissions compensation plan in China based on carbon budget perspective

Yang Miao; Chenchen Kong; Lulu Wang; Jiazhu Mu; Xin Lu; Jianqiang Bao; Hui Li

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.174

A provincial lateral carbon emissions compensation plan in China based on carbon budget perspective

Sci Total Environ. 2019 Nov 20:692:1086-1096. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.174. Epub 2019 Jul 12.

Authors

Yang Miao¹, Chenchen Kong², Lulu Wang³, Jiazhu Mu⁴, Xin Lu⁵, Jianqiang Bao⁶, Hui Li⁷

Affiliations

¹ Global think tank Research Center, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China; Center for Green Low-Carbon Development Research, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China. Electronic address: miao@zjut.edu.cn.
² Center for Green Low-Carbon Development Research, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China. Electronic address: kongcc@zjut.edu.cn.
³ Center for Energy and Environment Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100089, China; School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China. Electronic address: wanglulu@bit.edu.cn.
⁴ China Institute for Small and Medium Enterprises, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China. Electronic address: mujiazhu@zjut.edu.cn.
⁵ Zhejiang institute of medical device testing, Hangzhou 310018, China. Electronic address: luxin@mdst.org.cn.
⁶ Global think tank Research Center, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China; Center for Green Low-Carbon Development Research, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou 310023, China. Electronic address: bao@zjut.edu.cn.
⁷ Center for Energy and Environment Policy Research, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100089, China; School of Management and Economics, Beijing Institute of Technology, Beijing 100081, China. Electronic address: lihui2017@bit.edu.cn.

PMID: 31539940
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.07.174

Abstract

Inter-provincial lateral carbon compensation (IPLCC) is considered as a market-based tool to achieve the goal of carbon emission mitigation from the national level as well as contribute to fair development rights of various provinces. However, empirical research on lateral carbon compensation is still insufficient at the provincial level. Therefore, the improved carbon budget method is proposed to construct a provincial carbon budget accounting and evaluate the level of provincial lateral carbon compensation. The findings are concluded as follows: (1) Carbon emission and absorption in China have experienced rapid growth in the period of 2005-2015. (2) There exists an obvious spatial difference in the provincial carbon budget. The amount of provincial carbon emissions is high in the east and low in the west, while the provincial carbon absorption is high in the northeast and southwest and low in the other regions. (3) 30 Provinces in China can be classified into three types, namely those that have to pay for lateral carbon compensation, those that should be refunded, and those in relative equilibrium. (4) Whether a province should pay for or be refunded from lateral carbon compensation is related to the development level of the secondary industry. (5) Inter-provincial lateral carbon compensation will play a significant role in the top-level design of total carbon emission controlling across different provinces in China. Finally, three policy implications are proposed, including constant promotion of the decoupling of provincial economic development and carbon emissions, formulation of accounting standards and methods for lateral carbon compensation, and adoption of multiple lateral carbon compensation methods.

Keywords: Carbon budget accounting; China; Lateral carbon compensation; Provincial differences.