Saving less in China facilitates global CO 2 mitigation

Transforming China's economic growth pattern from investment-driven to consumption-driven can significantly change global CO emissions. This study is the first to analyse the impacts of changes in China's saving rates on global CO emissions both theoretically and empirically. Here, we show...

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Published inNature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 1358
Main Authors Lin, Chen, Qi, Jianchuan, Liang, Sai, Feng, Cuiyang, Wiedmann, Thomas O, Liao, Yihan, Yang, Xuechun, Li, Yumeng, Mi, Zhifu, Yang, Zhifeng
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England 13.03.2020
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Summary:Transforming China's economic growth pattern from investment-driven to consumption-driven can significantly change global CO emissions. This study is the first to analyse the impacts of changes in China's saving rates on global CO emissions both theoretically and empirically. Here, we show that the increase in the saving rates of Chinese regions has led to increments of global industrial CO emissions by 189 million tonnes (Mt) during 2007-2012. A 15-percentage-point decrease in the saving rate of China can lower global CO emissions by 186 Mt, or 0.7% of global industrial CO emissions. Greener consumption in China can lead to a further 14% reduction in global industrial CO emissions. In particular, decreasing the saving rate of Shandong has the most massive potential for global CO reductions, while that of Inner Mongolia has adverse effects. Removing economic frictions to allow the production system to fit China's increased consumption can facilitate global CO mitigation.
ISSN:2041-1723