Evaluation of sectoral and regional CO2 emissions: production-based and consumption-based accounting measurements

This study evaluates the regional and sectoral CO2 emissions estimated by different CO2 emissions accounting methodologies. The widely used methodology for CO2 emissions accounting is the measurement of CO2 emissions generated inside a country. When a country imports goods, virtual CO2 emissions that are emitted in their production and distribution processes outside the country are accompanied. Thus, the international trade must be taken into account for consumption-based CO2 emissions measurements. The GTAP (Ver.6) input-output tables and bilateral trade matrix database of goods and services are utilized for estimating the consumption-based CO2 emissions in this study. The result is that the consumption-based CO2 emissions gradually increased in the developed countries more than domestic emissions for the 2001, and the emissions in developing countries show the opposite trend. From the conceptual viewpoint of human welfare and equity, the international framework of emissions reduction should be based on the consumption-based emissions because former type of emissions naturally represent the magnitude of domestic consumption more fairly than the latter type of emissions. From the practical viewpoint of carbon leakage, the international framework based on the consumption-based emissions is more preferable than that based on the domestic one because developed countries who have to reduce their consumption-based emissions must do so not only by reducing their domestic emissions but also by reducing virtual emissions. The former framework will lead to improvements of energy efficiency and carbon intensity in developing countries, and thus technology transfer and not dirty-industry transfer to developing countries.