Aligning Climate and Health Co-Benefits through Supply-Chain Energy Intensity Coordination in China

Area of Science:

• Environmental Science
• Public Health
• Economics

Background:

• Co-mitigating carbon emissions and air pollutants presents benefits but faces challenges due to differing sectoral emissions and spatial inequalities.
• Interprovincial trade in China complicates emission reduction efforts by redistributing environmental burdens.

Purpose of the Study:

• To analyze the redistribution of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and PM2.5-related mortality across China's supply chains.
• To investigate how interprovincial trade patterns impact the co-mitigation of climate change and air pollution.

Main Methods:

• Integrated input-output analysis with health impact source attribution.
• Examined redistribution of CO2 emissions and PM2.5-related mortality.
• Simulated three supply chain convergence scenarios.

Main Results:

• Economically advanced regions outsource carbon emissions to less populated areas via power generation.
• Health burdens concentrate in densely populated industrial regions.
• Supply chain coordination, particularly in nonmetal, metal, and power sectors, can significantly reduce emissions and mortality.

Conclusions:

• Supply chain coordination offers a viable strategy to reconcile production disparities and achieve balanced climate-health benefits in China.
• Full convergence in energy intensity could reduce trade-related CO2 emissions by 17% and associated mortality by 19%.
• Even partial convergence scenarios yield substantial co-benefits, highlighting the importance of coordinated efforts.