CO2 Emission Embodied in International Trade: Evidence for China

Abstract

As the biggest developing country, China generate huge amount of CO 2 emissions. Some studies suggest that export trade is an important contributor to this, and China has been the pollution haven for the developed countries. A few developed countries also treat this as an excuse to take measures to punish China. This study calculates the amount of CO 2 emissions of 18 exporting industries in China using the data from 2001 to 2010. The findings reveal that the amount of CO 2 emissions is the result of export volume multiplying carbon emission per unit export. Carbon emission per unit export is dropping year by year, as the total amount of CO 2 emissions is rising year by year. As a result, the major contributor to huge amount of CO 2 emissions in export is the increasing volume of export inducing by abroad consumption. Empirical study also reveals that China has not been the pollution haven for developed countries.