China's provincial net-zero emissions effort: High-quality choices behind up-bottom quota schemes

Carbon emission rights are the spotlight for countries around the world in terms of how to allocate these under net-zero targets. This study proposes five allocation principles based on the carbon emission rights allocation mechanism, including equality, responsibility, capacity, efficiency, and time phases. Seventeen interprovincial emission allocation schemes are studied under China's net-zero emissions path, and then the best allocation scheme is selected using the PROMETHEE II and the linkage relationship among provincial quotas is clarifies using the PROMETHEE I. The results show that (1) the quota schemes that considers of equality, responsibility, capacity, efficiency and phasing principles to fully interprets “Common but Differentiated Responsibilities”. (2) Southeastern coastal areas such as Guangdong, Zhejiang, and Shanghai are assigned more quotas, whereas northeastern and western regions such as Heilongjiang and Jilin are allocated fewer quotas in the optimal scheme. (3) The government needs to dynamically adjust quota allocation principles on the basis of national emission reduction strategy goals and low-carbon policies. These results can provide China's provincial carbon emission share in reaching net zero to help formulate a provincial carbon action blueprint.