The embodiment of carbon in imports of manufactured products

The design of many greenhouse gas policies is predicated on controlling emissions by reducing domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This ignores the importance of carbon embodied in internatonal trade flows which could take on increased importance if emission reduction schemes are undertaken whic...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inEnergy policy Vol. 22; no. 3; pp. 187 - 194
Main Authors Wyckoff, Andrew W., Roop, Joseph M.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Kidlington Elsevier Science Ltd 01.03.1994
Subjects
Carbon
Emissions
Energy policy
Greenhouse effect
Greenhouse gases
Imports
International trade
Manufactured products
Manycountries
Statistical analysis
Studies
Canada
United Kingdom > UK
France
United States > US
Japan
Germany
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Summary:The design of many greenhouse gas policies is predicated on controlling emissions by reducing domestic greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. This ignores the importance of carbon embodied in internatonal trade flows which could take on increased importance if emission reduction schemes are undertaken which include only a subset of GHG emitting countries. An analysis estimates the amount of carbon embodied in the imports of manufactured goods to 6 of the largest OECD countries - Canada, France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US - in order to determine whether or not the importation of carbon rich products is a problem worth addressing. The estimates reveal that a significant amount, about 13% of the total carbon emissions of these countries, is estimated to be embodied in manufactured imports. The analysis concludes by suggesting a number of policy implications that can be drawn from these findings.
ISSN:0301-4215
1873-6777
DOI:10.1016/0301-4215(94)90158-9