A justice and innovative way ahead of consumption-based emission accounting approach

Abstract

Carbon emission accounting is an important basis for global climate governance. Based on the consumption-based accounting (CBA) method, the characteristics of carbon flow between national, regional, and product processes could be more clearly reflected. Therefore, CBA is more conducive to clarifying the attribution of responsibilities between producers and consumers, with the principles of fairness and justice. By accounting for carbon emissions in typical countries from 1990 to 2019, we found that the CBA emissions are higher than the production-based accounting (PBA) emissions in major developed countries, while the results are reversed for developing countries. In the past 30 years, the CBA emissions in targeted developed countries generally have shown a downward trend, while in developing countries, they have shown an upward trend. CBA emissions in China have shown a continuous growth trend from 1990 to 2019, but the pace has slowed down significantly over the last decade. Meanwhile, the embodied carbon intensity of China’s exports continues to decline, indicating that China is providing more green and low-carbon products to the world. Taking the PV industry as an example, this study further reveals the contribution of specific product industries to the country’s carbon transfer through product carbon footprint analysis. In order to provide a scientific basis for global mitigation and climate governance, it is urgent to innovate a scientific, practical, and standardized CBA technology system.