Decoupling carbon dioxide emissions from economic growth across multiregional supply chains within China

Abstract

Decoupling carbon dioxide emissions from economic growth is crucial for China's dual carbon targets and sustainable development. Amidst the backdrop of a new development paradigm emphasizing domestic circulation, the decoupling analysis of embodied carbon emissions and embodied value added among Chinese regions is vital for green multiregional supply chain management to reduce carbon emissions while keeping economic growth. This study first comprehensively explores the decoupling status of carbon emissions and economic growth at the provincial level. Moreover, we focus on the embodied carbon emissions and value added across multiregional supply chains within China during 2012–2017 from both demand and supply perspectives. Results illustrate that the decoupling status of 22 provinces (e.g., Beijing, Shandong, and Xinjiang) displays diversity across different perspectives. Furthermore, the different multi-perspective decoupling statuses of critical sectors (e.g., the production and distribution of electric power and heat power sector) underscore the necessity for multi-side measures to reconcile carbon emission reduction with economic growth. Notably, this study identifies the decoupling status of most interregional pairs (i.e., two regions with carbon emissions and value added flows) are undesirable. It highlights the importance of interregional cooperation for decoupling embodied carbon emissions from value added growth along multiregional supply chains. Our findings can provide valuable insights for policymakers in advancing carbon emissions decoupling from economic expansion to achieve national sustainable development.