The carbon footprint (CF) has emerged as an important yardstick to understand the total contribution of countries, sectors and individuals to climate change. In contrast to conventional emissions ...accounting which captures only territorial or local production activities, the CF includes the emissions imposed by consumption across global supply chains for goods and services. Recent interest has grown in the application of CF assessment for municipalities owing to their large contribution to global carbon emissions and the limited coverage of existing data to monitor their climate pledges. By linking household-level consumer surveys to a global supply chain database, spatially-explicit CF assessment is possible at a district and household scale. To date, such technique has exposed otherwise unforeseen differences in consumer carbon footprints in developed countries. Within this study we calculate and compare the household carbon footprints 623 districts in India, based on micro consumption data from 203,313 households and explain their variation by economic, cultural and demographic factors. We show the eradication of extreme poverty does not conflict with ambitious climate change mitigation in India. However, our analysis suggests CF reduction policies within India need to target high-expenditure households which are responsible for nearly seven times the carbon emissions than low-expenditure households (living on $1.9 consumption a day). These vast disparities between the carbon footprint of citizens in India highlights the need to differentiate individual responsibilities for climate change in national and global climate policy.
material footprint of nations Wiedmann, Thomas O.; Schandl, Heinz; Lenzen, Manfred ...
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences - PNAS,
05/2015, Letnik:
112, Številka:
20
Journal Article
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Significance This original research paper addresses a key issue in sustainability science: How many and which natural resources are needed to sustain modern economies? Simple as it may seem, this ...question is far from trivial to answer and has indeed not been addressed satisfactorily in the scholarly literature. We use the most comprehensive and most highly resolved economic input–output framework of the world economy together with a detailed database of global material flows to calculate the full material requirements of all countries covering a period of two decades. Called the “material footprint,” this indicator provides a consumption perspective of resource use and new insights into the actual resource productivity of nations.
Metrics on resource productivity currently used by governments suggest that some developed countries have increased the use of natural resources at a slower rate than economic growth (relative decoupling) or have even managed to use fewer resources over time (absolute decoupling). Using the material footprint (MF), a consumption-based indicator of resource use, we find the contrary: Achievements in decoupling in advanced economies are smaller than reported or even nonexistent. We present a time series analysis of the MF of 186 countries and identify material flows associated with global production and consumption networks in unprecedented specificity. By calculating raw material equivalents of international trade, we demonstrate that countries’ use of nondomestic resources is, on average, about threefold larger than the physical quantity of traded goods. As wealth grows, countries tend to reduce their domestic portion of materials extraction through international trade, whereas the overall mass of material consumption generally increases. With every 10% increase in gross domestic product, the average national MF increases by 6%. Our findings call into question the sole use of current resource productivity indicators in policy making and suggest the necessity of an additional focus on consumption-based accounting for natural resource use.
Abstract
Numerous studies have investigated the hotspots for reducing carbon emissions associated with household consumption, including reducing household carbon footprints (CFs) and greener ...lifestyle choices, such as living car-free, eating less meat, and having one less child. However, estimating the effect of each of these actions requires the simultaneous consideration of lifestyle choices and household characteristics that could also affect the household CF. Here, we quantify the reduction in household CFs for 25 factors associated with individual lifestyle choices or socioeconomic characteristics. This study linked approximately 42 000 microdata on consumption expenditure with the Japanese subnational 47 prefecture-level multi-regional input–output table, which are both the finest-scale data currently available. We improved the accuracy of household CF calculations by considering regional heterogeneity, and successfully estimated the magnitude of household CF reduction associated with individual lifestyle choices and socioeconomics. For example, it was found that moving from a cold region to a region with mild climate would have considerable potential for reducing the CO
2
emissions of a household, all other factors being equal. In addition, a household residing in a house that meets the most recent energy standards emits 1150 kg less CO
2
per year than if they reside in a house that meets previous energy standards. Ownership and use of durable goods also had the potential for reducing the CO
2
emissions of a household; a normal-sized car, a personal computer, a compact car, and a bidet were associated with CO
2
emissions of 922, 712, 421, and 345 kg per year, respectively. The findings therefore have important implications for climate change mitigation and policy measures associated with lifestyle.
While high-income countries have made significant strides since the 1970s in improving air quality, air pollution continues to rise in many developing countries and the world as a whole. A ...significant share of the pollution burden in developing countries can be attributed to production for export to consumers in high-income nations. However, it remains a challenge to quantify individual actors' share of responsibility for pollution, and to involve parties other than primary emitters in cleanup efforts. Here we present a new spatially explicit modeling approach to link SO2, NOx, and PM10 severe emissions hotspots to final consumers via global supply chains. These maps show developed countries reducing their emissions domestically but driving new pollution hotspots in developing countries. This is also the first time a spatially explicit footprint inventory has been established. Linking consumers and supply chains to emissions hotspots creates opportunities for other parties to participate alongside primary emitters and local regulators in pollution abatement efforts.
Carbon footprints of 13 000 cities Moran, Daniel; Kanemoto, Keiichiro; Jiborn, Magnus ...
Environmental research letters,
06/2018, Letnik:
13, Številka:
6
Journal Article
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While it is understood that cities generate the majority of carbon emissions, for most cities, towns, and rural areas around the world no carbon footprint (CF) has been estimated. The Gridded Global ...Model of City Footprints (GGMCF) presented here downscales national CFs into a 250 m gridded model using data on population, purchasing power, and existing subnational CF studies from the US, China, EU, and Japan. Studies have shown that CFs are highly concentrated by income, with the top decile of earners driving 30%-45% of emissions. Even allowing for significant modeling uncertainties, we find that emissions are similarly concentrated in a small number of cities. The highest emitting 100 urban areas (defined as contiguous population clusters) account for 18% of the global carbon footprint. While many of the cities with the highest footprints are in countries with high carbon footprints, nearly one quarter of the top cities (41 of the top 200) are in countries with relatively low emissions. In these cities population and affluence combine to drive footprints at a scale similar to those of cities in high-income countries. We conclude that concerted action by a limited number of local governments can have a disproportionate impact on global emissions.
Worldwide exposure to ambient PM
causes over 4 million premature deaths annually. As most of these deaths are in developing countries, without internationally coordinated efforts this polarized ...situation will continue. As yet, however, no studies have quantified nation-to-nation consumer responsibility for global mortality due to both primary and secondary PM
particles. Here we quantify the global footprint of PM
-driven premature deaths for the 19 G20 nations in a position to lead such efforts. G20 consumption in 2010 was responsible for 1.983 95% Confidence Interval: 1.685-2.285 million premature deaths, at an average age of 67, including 78.6 71.5-84.8 thousand infant deaths, implying that the G20 lifetime consumption of about 28 24-33 people claims one life. Our results indicate that G20 nations should take responsibility for their footprint rather than focusing solely on transboundary air pollution, as this would expand opportunities for reducing PM
-driven premature mortality. Given the infant mortality footprint identified, it would moreover contribute to ensuring infant lives are not unfairly left behind in countries like South Africa, which have a weak relationship with G20 nations.
Abstract
If widely adopted, the ‘planetary health diet’ (PHD), proposed by the EAT-Lancet Commission, would help to meet ambitious sustainability goals currently jeopardised by excessive and resource ...intensive food demand. To date, convergence of nations to the PHD has been assessed using average food consumption patterns, overlooking the influence of different consumers within this context. Using self-reported dietary intake data from a snapshot survey of the US we reveal the differentiated responsibilities of US citizens within the country’s adoption of the PHD otherwise hidden by use of country averaged dietary intake data. We show how such a granular analysis of food consumption patterns is critical to identify levers in the sustainable food transition of nations. By combining 7418 individual food intake reports from a representative cross section of the United States (US) with commodity-level impact data we estimate the overshoot of US dietary patterns in relation to the PHD and their impacts across the climate, water and land system. The net environmental impacts of PHD adoption across the US population are quantified based on realistic dietary shifts. We estimate that US overshoot of the PHD is responsible for 70% of the US dietary greenhouse gas (GHG) footprint. However, over 60% of this burden could be eliminated by just 10% of the US population following the PHD. Although we estimate PHD adoption will more than half the US dietary GHG footprint and land footprint, we find it may have unintended consequences on water demand due to increased tree nut consumption. Across almost all food categories, we show that the food choices of the top tier of consumers in the US create, and must bridge the PHD gap. As such, actions by these consumers will be of major consequences to the speed and direction of the country’s sustainable dietary transition. To avoid environmental trade-offs, dietary policies must be scrutinised across multiple sustainability criteria.
On 3 April 2020, the Director-General of the WHO stated: "COVID-19 is much more than a health crisis. We are all aware of the profound social and economic consequences of the pandemic (WHO, 2020)". ...Such consequences are the result of counter-measures such as lockdowns, and world-wide reductions in production and consumption, amplified by cascading impacts through international supply chains. Using a global multi-regional macro-economic model, we capture direct and indirect spill-over effects in terms of social and economic losses, as well as environmental effects of the pandemic. Based on information as of May 2020, we show that global consumption losses amount to 3.8$tr, triggering significant job (147 million full-time equivalent) and income (2.1$tr) losses. Global atmospheric emissions are reduced by 2.5Gt of greenhouse gases, 0.6Mt of PM2.5, and 5.1Mt of SO2 and NOx. While Asia, Europe and the USA have been the most directly impacted regions, and transport and tourism the immediately hit sectors, the indirect effects transmitted along international supply chains are being felt across the entire world economy. These ripple effects highlight the intrinsic link between socio-economic and environmental dimensions, and emphasise the challenge of addressing unsustainable global patterns. How humanity reacts to this crisis will define the post-pandemic world.
In this article, we develop an economic network analysis to find environmentally critical transmission sectors, transactions and paths in global supply chain networks. The edge betweenness centrality ...in the global supply chain networks is newly formulated and a relationship between edge betweenness centrality and vertex betweenness centrality is further provided. The empirical analysis based on the world input-output database covering 35 industrial sectors and 41 countries and regions in 2008 shows that specifically, China's Electrical and Optical Equipment sector, which has a higher edge and vertex betweenness centrality, is the most critical sector in global supply chain networks in terms of spreading CO2 emissions along its supply chain paths. We suggest greener supply chain engagement centered around the China's Electrical and Optical Equipment sector and other key sectors identified in this study.
•The edge betweenness centrality for Input-Output analysis is proposed.•The vertex betweenness can identify key sectors for reducing life-cycle CO2.•The edge betweenness can identify key transactions for reducing life-cycle CO2.•Critical supply-chain structures can be visualized by the betweenness centralities.
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