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On March 30, 2020, Professor Wei Yiming's team's achievement "China's economic growth and household carbon footprint" of energy and environmental policy research center of Beijing University of science and technology was published in the natural journal "nature sustainability" in the form of research article. This work is the result of the national key R & D Program (2016yfa0602600) "Research on the comprehensive assessment model of the economic impact of climate change" led by Professor Wei Yiming. Professor Wei Yiming is the corresponding author of this paper, and Dr. Mi Zhifu, a Ph.D. graduate of North Institute of technology and assistant professor of University College London, UK, is the first author of this paper. The collaborators include the famous author of the stern report, Professor Nicholas Stern of the London School of political economy and many other international scholars.
Among the 17 sustainable development goals proposed by the United Nations, it is clearly proposed to achieve poverty-free, reduce inequality and mitigate climate change. These sustainable development goals are interrelated. This paper discusses the effect of China's economic growth on the above goals, and finds that the sustained growth of China's economy not only improves the income level of residents, but also promotes the equity of household carbon footprint.
Carbon footprint refers to the total emission of greenhouse gases caused by individuals, families, organizations, activities or products, which is used to measure the impact of human activities on global warming. Due to the differences of income level, regional environment and lifestyle, the carbon footprints of different families are very different.
This study calculates the carbon footprints of households in different income groups in 30 provinces of China, explores the relevance between the goals of climate change mitigation, poverty eradication and inequality reduction, and provides a coordinated governance mechanism for climate change mitigation and inequality reduction.
It is found that the carbon footprints of different income families in China are quite different, and the per capita carbon footprints of rich areas are relatively high. In 2012, the highest 5% of the population contributed 17% of the national household carbon footprint, while the lower 50% contributed only 25%. From the perspective of urban and rural areas, in 2012, the urban population accounted for 53% of the total population, contributing 74% of the national household carbon footprint. There is a huge difference between urban and rural areas. The per capita carbon footprint of urban households is 2.8 tons, 2.5 times of that of rural households.
The study also found that China's economic growth is conducive to promoting the equity of household carbon footprint. From the perspective of time span, China's carbon footprint Gini coefficient (the smaller the coefficient means the more equal) decreased from 0.44 in 2007 to 0.37 in 2012. From the perspective of space, the equity of household carbon footprint in rich areas is relatively high. For example, in 2012, the per capita GDP of Tianjin, Beijing, Shanghai and Jiangsu exceeded 68000, and their carbon footprint Gini coefficients were relatively low, respectively 0.19, 0.16, 0.14 and 0.18. On the contrary, the Gini coefficient of carbon footprint in underdeveloped areas is relatively high. For example, the Gini coefficient of carbon footprint in Guizhou is 0.38.
Previously, Professor Wei Yiming's team published long research articles in three natural journals, including nature energy, nature climate change, and nature communications.
Paper link:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41893-020-0504-y
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Beijing University of Technology
Center for energy and environmental policy research