A new study called "The Contribution of Chinese Exports to Climate Change" just published in the journal Energy Policy (firewalled) delivers some sobering news.
All that shopping at Wal Mart has more to do with China's soaring carbon footprint than the lifestyle of the average Chinese person.
A new study called "The Contribution of Chinese Exports to Climate Change" just published in the journal Energy Policy (firewalled) delivers some sobering news.
The recent rapid growth of greenhouse gas emissions in China is largely the result of industrial production of cheap exports for foreign markets. At the same time, households in China were responsible for a decreasing share of the nation's soaring emissions.
In other words, all that shopping at Wal Mart has more to do with China's soaring carbon footprint than the lifestyle of the average Chinese person. Consumption in the developed world -- with the US accounting for the largest share -- is driving both the growth in China's GDP and its emissions at the same explosive rate.
Here are the numbers in the study:
One third (33%) of domestic Chinese greenhouse gas emissions are attributable to industrial production for the export market. China's export emissions started soaring only in recent years. In 1987, only 12% of China's emissions were tied to exports. That figure grew slowly, reaching 21% in 2002. Then export emissions exploded to 33% of total emissions in 2005, the year latest figures are available.
What's more, China's export emissions growth exactly parallels growth of its actual exports as a percentage of GDP. In 1987, exports accounted for 12% of China's GDP. In 2005, 33%.
The largest single chunk of Chinese exports end up in the US, accounting for 27% of China's export emissions, the authors of the study calculate. At the same time, household consumption in China was responsble for a decreasing share of emissions, accounting for 45% of emissions in 1987, but only 28% in 2005.
That's not the whole picture.
Capital expenditure necessary for building up infrastructure and production capacities has been responsible for between 32% and 37% of China's CO2 emissions since 1987.....at least part of these emissions could be indirectly attributable to exports because much of the infrastructure improvements occuring are for export production.
In a global context, China's export emissions are 6% of global CO2 emissions from fossil fuels.
This staggering statistic begs the question of who should be responsible for the emissions from the production of Chinese exports.
It also begs for an answer.