Allocation of responsibility for transportation carbon emissions based on economic benefits

The reasonable allocation of carbon emission responsibility in the transportation sector is vital for developing effective low-carbon transportation policies. This study introduces the principle of Economic Benefit Sharing Responsibility (EBSR), which incorporates economic benefits into the allocation process. Using data from city-level and provincial-level MRIO tables and carbon emission statistics, it equitably allocates transportation carbon emissions across 309 Chinese cities. The findings show that EBSR effectively balances transportation carbon responsibilities by integrating the perspectives of production-based accounting (PBA) and consumption-based accounting (CBA). EBSR demonstrates that industrial hubs like Shanghai bear higher producer responsibilities, while consumption-driven cities like Beijing take on greater consumer responsibilities. Compared to PBA and CBA, EBSR provides a more equitable framework for allocating carbon responsibilities aligned with cities’ economic roles. Policymakers are encouraged to adopt EBSR to balance emission responsibility, guide elasticity-based policies, and advance equitable, low-carbon transportation.