Quantitative research on regional ecological compensation from the perspective of carbon-neutral: The case of Hunan Province, China

Abstract

The reduction in CO2 emissions is very important, as highlighted by the issue of globalclimatewarming. As a developing country, China has great differences in regional economic development,which makes it necessary to implement the ecological compensation of regional carbon emissions tocoordinate the relationship between regional economic development and environmental protection.Using the ecological system in Hunan Province, China as the research object, this study analyzed andcalculated the carbon emissions and carbon sequestration across different industries and differentregions of Hunan using ArcGIS and theoretical model calculation methods. Quantitative researchon region ecological compensation was undertaken by establishing the ecological compensationcoefficient and ecological compensation model based on the carbon-neutral principal. The resultsshowed that there were significant differences in carbon sources and carbon sequestration in thedifferent cities. Out of all the cities investigated, Changsha had the highest carbon emissions andHuaihua had the largest carbon sequestration. In terms of per capita, Xiangtan had the highestcarbon emissions and Zhangjiajie had the largest carbon sequestration. Through the quantification ofcarbon compensation in the cities of Hunan, we found that Changsha, Zhuzhou, Xiangtan, Hengyang,Yueyang, and Loudi were in a state of ecological deficit, and should pay an amount of ecologicalcompensation, respectively. Meanwhile, the other eight cities (Shaoyang, Changde, Zhangjiajie,Yiyang, Chenzhou, Yongzhou, Huaihua, and Xiangxi) were in a state of ecological surplus; they couldreceive some ecological compensation, respectively. Our results will provide a reference for arealcarbon trading and ecological compensation mechanisms as significant instruments and measures torealize payment for environmental resource services.