wAbstract
@This study asks whether sub-national inequalities in carbon dioxide
(CO2) emissions mirror international patterns
in carbon inequality using the case study of China. Several studies
have examined global-level carbon inequality; however, such approaches
have not been used on a sub-national scale. This study examines
inter-provincial inequality in CO2 emissions
within China using common measures of inequality (coefficient
of variation, Gini Index, Theil Index) to analyze provincial-level
data derived from the IPCC reference approach for the years 1997-2007.
It decomposes CO2 emissions inequality into
its inter-regional and intra-regional components. Patterns of
per capita CO2 emissions inequality in China
appear superficially similar to, though slightly lower than, per
capita income inequality. However, decomposing these inequalities
reveals different patterns. While inter-provincial income inequality
is highly regional in character, inter-provincial CO2
emissions inequality is primarily intra-regional. While apparently
similar, global patterns in CO2 emissions
are not mirrored at the sub-national scale.
Keywords: China; Climate change; Inequalityx
1. Introduction
2. Background
@2.1. International studies of greenhouse gas inequality
@2.2. Regional inequality in China
3. Data and methods
@3.1. Method
@3.2. Data
@3.3. Inequality measures
4. Results
@4.1. Changes in regional emissions over time
@4.2. CO2 emissions and income inequality
@4.3. Concentration indices
@4.4. Intra-regional and inter-regional variation in inequality
5. Discussion and conclusions
References