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Frontiers of Earth Science

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Front. Earth Sci.    2023, Vol. 17 Issue (2) : 576-588    https://doi.org/10.1007/s11707-022-0993-2
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Research on carbon emissions embodied in China-Russia trade under the background of the Belt and Road
Yang YU(), Yiming DU, Wei XU, Qi LIU
School of Economics and Management, Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Beijing 100029, China
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Abstract

Based on the latest China-Russia input-output data sets over the period from 2007 to 2015, this study quantified the flow of embodied carbon emissions in China-Russia trade using the emission embodied in bilateral trade (EEBT) approach. In addition, the structural decomposition analysis (SDA) was employed to identify the potential driving factors that affect embodied carbon in imports and exports. The results showed as follow. 1) China was a net exporter of carbon emissions in bilateral trade between China and Russia during 2007–2015. Despite that the bilateral trade scale had expanded considerably, the net export volume of CO2 from China to Russia decreased from 13.21 Mt in 2007 to 4.45 Mt in 2015. 2) From the perspective of different sectors, the metal manufacturing and the chemical sectors of China and Russia were the main sources of CO2 emissions. 3) In terms of driving factors, it was found that the carbon emission coefficient was the main reason for contributing to embodied emission reduction. Moreover, the contribution rate of carbon emission coefficient to reduce the carbon emissions in imports reached to 95.26%, as well as 108.22% in exports. The bilateral trade scale was the main driver for the increase in embodied carbon emissions, and the contribution rate to embodied carbon emissions in imports and exports were 14.80% and 65.17%, respectively. 4) This study argued that China and Russia should further optimize the energy structure and improve the energy efficiency and intermediate technology in the future.
Keywords embodied carbon emissions      I-O model      China-Russia trade      SDA     
Corresponding Author(s): Yang YU   
Online First Date: 22 May 2023    Issue Date: 04 August 2023
 Cite this article:   
Yang YU,Yiming DU,Wei XU, et al. Research on carbon emissions embodied in China-Russia trade under the background of the Belt and Road[J]. Front. Earth Sci., 2023, 17(2): 576-588.
 URL:  
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/10.1007/s11707-022-0993-2
https://academic.hep.com.cn/fesci/EN/Y2023/V17/I2/576
Fig.1  Trade volume between China and Russia (unit: billion USD).
Code Sector Code Sector
1 Agriculture, hunting, forestry, and fishing 7 Paper, printing, and publishing
2 Mining and washing of coal 8 Chemical manufacturing
3 Extraction of petroleum and natural gas 9 Non-metallic mineral manufacturing industries
4 Beverages and tobacco 10 Metal manufacturing industries
5 Textiles, leather, and clothing 11 Other manufacturers
6 Wood and wood products 12 Other sectors
Tab.1  Classification of the sectors
Year Embodied CO2 emissions (Mt CO2) Total traded volume (billion USD)
CO2 emissions imports CO2 emissions exports Net exports of CO2 emissions
2007 21.31 34.52 13.21 33.52
2010 15.97 26.57 10.59 57.05
2012 19.18 23.58 4.40 75.09
2015 11.64 16.09 4.45 63.55
Tab.2  Total embodied carbon emissions and trade volume
Sector 2007 2010 2012 2015
1 0.049 0.024 0.018 0.015
2 3.704 1.555 1.230 0.991
3 0.068 0.069 0.074 0.109
4 0.078 0.029 0.025 0.023
5 0.071 0.025 0.027 0.024
6 0.032 0.018 0.015 0.012
7 0.235 0.124 0.084 0.059
8 0.445 0.187 0.109 0.077
9 0.489 0.366 0.191 0.203
10 0.303 0.154 0.116 0.083
11 0.037 0.024 0.025 0.018
12 0.096 0.035 0.026 0.017
Tab.3  Carbon emission coefficients of sectors in China
Fig.2  CO2 emissions embodied in China-Russia trade in 2007 (unit: 1 × 104 t CO2).
Fig.3  CO2 emissions embodied in China-Russia trade in 2015 (unit: 1 × 104 t CO2).
Fig.4  CO2 emissions embodied in China-Russia trade in 2010 (unit: 1 × 104 t CO2).
Fig.5  CO2 emissions embodied in China-Russia trade in 2012 (unit: 1 × 104 t CO2).
Fig.6  Decomposition analysis of imported carbon emissions (unit: 1 × 104 t CO2).
Fig.7  Decomposition analysis of exported carbon emissions (unit: 1 × 104 t CO2).
Year Contribution rate/%
Carbon emissions coefficients Intermediate technology Trade structure Trade scale
2007–2010 231.09 −63.14 −21.01 −46.94
2010–2012 143.10 61.31 2.21 −106.34
2012–2015 95.26 17.51 2.03 −14.80
Tab.4  Contribution rate of indexes in reducing imported carbon
Year Contribution rate/%
Carbon emissions coefficients Intermediate technology Trade structure Trade scale
2007–2010 303.48 −67.38 −70.94 −65.17
2010–2012 108.22 61.95 8.60 −78.76
2012–2015 108.36 92.61 43.54 −144.50
Tab.5  Contribution rate of indexes in reducing exported carbon
Fig.8  Trade volume of China import from Russia (unit: billion USD).
Fig.9  Trade volume of China export to Russia (unit: billion USD).
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