"“Instead of looking at carbon dioxide emissions only in terms of what is released inside our borders, we also looked at the amount of carbon dioxide released during the production of the things that we consume,” says Caldeira (press release). “Just like the electricity that you use in your home probably causes CO2 emissions at a coal-burning power plant somewhere else, we found that the products imported by the developed countries of western Europe, Japan, and the United States cause substantial emissions in other countries, especially China.”
carbon outsource.
In some wealthy countries, including Britain and France, more than 30% of consumption-based emissions are imported; in the United States, the figure is 11%. Caldeira thinks that the UNFCCC’s production-based inventories should be supplemented with figures that track where the carbon is ultimately being consumed.
Dieter Helm, an economist at the University of Oxford who has previously published papers showing that much of the UK's carbon footprint is produced overseas, says that the new study “highlights that Europe and the US are flattered by their CO2 production numbers”."
Climate Feedback: Extent of ‘carbon outsourcing’ revealed
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