Research on China's embodied carbon transfer network in 2012 from the perspective of provinces and sectors

Resource endowment and economic development of different provinces in China vary greatly, resulting in large amount of CO₂ transfers. We need further exploration to help decision makers allocate emission responsibilities reasonably. We construct China's embodied CO₂ transfer network (CTN) in 2012 from the perspective of provinces and sectors based on multi-regional input-output (MRIO) model and complex network analysis. The key CO₂ transfer nodes and paths, final demand decomposition, topological structure, clustering characteristics, and influencing factors are analyzed. The results show that the average CO₂ transfer length from one province (sector) to another is only 1.323 (1.584). The top three net CO₂ importers (45.39% of the total), located in developed eastern coastal area, mainly import CO₂ from energy-rich but underdeveloped provinces such as Heilongjiang. It presents a CO₂ transfer pattern from north to south and from west to east. CO₂ transfer in energy industry is mainly driven by urban household consumption. Non-adjacent provinces with distance greater than 750 km have no significant spillover effect and difference in technology level has the greatest impact on CTN. This work is important for differentiating the roles of provinces and sectors in CTN, guiding the allocation of carbon credits and controlling total CO₂ emissions.