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Although investment and R&D activities can exert significant effects on energy-related industrial CO2 emissions (EICE), related factors have not been fairly uncovered in the existing index decomposition studies. This paper extends the previous logarithmic mean Divisia index (LMDI) decomposition model by introducing three novel factors (R&D intensity, investment intensity, and R&D efficiency). The extended model not only considers the conventional drivers of EICE, but also reflects the microeconomic effects of investment and R&D behaviors on EICE. Furthermore, taking Shanghai as an example, which is the economic center and leading CO2 emitter in China, we use the extended model to decompose and explain EICE changes. Also, we incorporate renewable energy sources into the proposed model to carry out an alternative decomposition analysis at Shanghais entire industrial level. The results show that among conventional (macroeconomic) factors, expanding output scale is mainly responsible for the increase in EICE, and industrial structure adjustment is the most significant factor in mitigating EICE. Regardless of renewable energy sources, the emission-reduction effect of energy intensity focused on by the Chinese government is less than the expected due to the rebound effect, but the introduction of renewable energy sources intensifies its mitigating effect, partly resulting from the transmission from the abating effect of industrial structure adjustment. The effect of energy structure is the weakest. Although all the three novel factors exert significant effects on EICE, they are more sensitive to policy interventions than conventional factors. R&D intensity presents an obvious mitigating effect, while investment intensity and R&D efficiency display an overall promotion effect with some volatility. The introduction of renewable energy sources intensifies the promotion effect of R&D efficiency as a result of the "green paradox" effect. Finally, we propose that CO2 mitigation efforts should be made by considering both macroeconomic and microeconomic factors in order to achieve a desirable emission-reduction effect.

Emissions of the fine particulate matters (diameter of 2.5 μm or less) caused by both the primary particle emissions and the precursor emission sources such as sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides, have contributed significantly to poor urban air quality in China, and have attracted tremendous public attention over the past few years. This study provides an interdisciplinary study to investigate the key contributors driving air pollution emissions changes in China from 1997 to 2012, by applying the Logarithmic Mean Divisia Index method. The decomposition results are presented in both multiplicative and additive approaches to show the relative and absolute contribution of each factor in affecting emission changes. Changes in total particulate matter emissions are attributed to variations in primary particle, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides emissions. It is manifested that the economic growth effect and energy intensity effect have always been the two key drivers in affecting the changes in air pollutant emissions over the period. The effects of emission efficiency, production structure and population growth contribute less significantly to overall emission changes, and the impacts of different factors vary among different pollutants. Since current strategies and policies in combatting particulate matter emissions are inefficient, this paper provides a guideline for the Chinese Government to deal with the air pollution problem for sustainable development in China.

AbstractThis article investigates the economic impacts of a multi‐disaster mix comprising extreme weather, such as flooding, pandemic control, and export restrictions, dubbed a "perfect storm." We develop a compound‐hazard impact model that improves on the ARIO model by considering the economic interplay between different types of hazardous events. The model considers simultaneously cross‐regional substitution and production specialization, which can influence the resilience of the economy to multiple shocks. We build scenarios to investigate economic impacts when a flood and a pandemic lockdown collide and how these are affected by the timing, duration, and intensity/strictness of each shock. In addition, we examine how export restrictions during a pandemic impact the economic losses and recovery, especially when there is the specialization of production of key sectors. The results suggest that an immediate, stricter but shorter pandemic control policy would help to reduce the economic costs inflicted by a perfect storm, and regional or global cooperation is needed to address the spillover effects of such compound events, especially in the context of the risks from deglobalization.

In India, rapid industrialization and reorganization of the global supply chain are driving economic growth, accompanied by increasing exports and carbon emissions. India is poised to succeed China as the next world manufactory, which will lead to huge emissions in the country. To formulate appropriate emission mitigation measures, it is necessary to further understand the temporal change in India's emissions at the sectoral level from both the production and consumption perspectives. However, existing studies that have estimated emissions in India have paid less attention to the link among original emitters, final producers and final consumers and to its temporal change. Based on an emission inventory compiled in this study, we trace emission flows from original emitters to final producers and then to final consumers through the international supply chain by using an environmentally extended multi-regional input-output model. This study finds that both production-based and consumption-based emissions in India increased constantly from 2000 to 2014, and production-based emissions had higher growth rates due to the increased coal share. The major receivers of India's exported emissions were developed countries (e.g., the European Union and the United States), while the main sources of India's imported emissions were developing countries (e.g., China and Russia). From 2011 to 2014, India's net exported emissions increased by 29.2% because of the decrease of imported emissions. Moreover, intermediate products (63% and 73.7%) were the major contributors to exported and imported emissions, most of which were embodied in manufacturing products (48.8% and 65.7%, respectively). Therefore, international cooperation to optimize the energy and trade structure and to improve energy efficiency can be effective in mitigating carbon emissions in India.

When extreme weather events occur, people often turn to social media platforms to share information, opinions and experiences. One of the topics commonly discussed is the role climate change may or may not have played in influencing an event. Here, we examine Twitter posts that mentioned climate change in the context of three high-magnitude extreme weather events – Hurricane Irene, Hurricane Sandy and Snowstorm Jonas – in order to assess how the framing of the topic and the attention paid to it can vary between events. We also examine the role that contextual factors can play in shaping climate change coverage on the platform. We find that criticism of climate change denial dominated during Irene, while political and ideological struggle frames dominated during Sandy. Discourse during Jonas was, in contrast, more divided between posts about the scientific links between climate change and the events, and posts contesting climate science in general. The focus on political and ideological struggle frames during Sandy reflects the event's occurrence at a time when the Occupy movement was active and the 2012 US Presidential Election was nearing. These factors, we suggest, could also contribute to climate change being a more prominent discussion point during Sandy than during Irene or Jonas. The Jonas frames, meanwhile, hint at lesser public understanding of how climate change may influence cold weather events when compared with tropical storms. Overall, our findings demonstrate how event characteristics and short-term socio-political context can play a critical role in determining the lenses through which climate change is viewed.

AbstractHydrometeorological phenomena have increased in intensity and frequency in last decades, with Europe as one of the most affected areas. This accounts for considerable economic losses in the region. Regional adaptation strategies for costs minimization require a comprehensive assessment of the disasters' economic impacts at a multiple‐region scale. This article adapts the flood footprint method for multiple‐region assessment of total economic impact and applies it to the 2009 Central European Floods event. The flood footprint is an impact accounting framework based on the input–output methodology to economically assess the physical damage (direct) and production shortfalls (indirect) within a region and wider economic networks, caused by a climate disaster. Here, the model is extended through the capital matrix, to enable diverse recovery strategies. According to the results, indirect losses represent a considerable proportion of the total costs of a natural disaster, and most of them occur in nonhighly directly impacted industries. For the 2009 Central European Floods, the indirect losses represent 65% out of total, and 70% of it comes from four industries: business services, manufacture general, construction, and commerce. Additionally, results show that more industrialized economies would suffer more indirect losses than less‐industrialized ones, in spite of being less vulnerable to direct shocks. This may link to their specific economic structures of high capital‐intensity and strong interindustrial linkages.

The FP6 TOCSIN project has evaluated climate change mitigation options in China and India and the conditions for strategic cooperation on research, development and demonstration (RD&D) and technology transfer with the European Union. In particular, the project investigated the strategic dimensions of RD&D cooperation and the challenge of creating incentives to encourage the participation of developing countries in post-2012 GHG emissions reduction strategies and technological cooperation. This paper summarizes the main policy-relevant results of the project, including the requests for: (I) almost immediate decisions on ambitious mitigation; (II) a strong increase in Annex I support regarding R&D spending and technology transfer; (III) a well-designed mix of instruments and targets in an effective climate deal that addresses manifold national interests and concerns.

Air pollution seriously threatens human health, and its consequences are particularly prevalent among environmentally vulnerable or sensitive groups. However, whether the concerns among these groups are different and how they affect air pollution governance remain unclear. Here, we extract 3.8 million haze-related posts from China's Sina Weibo and analyze the concerns raised by these groups by constructing an air pollution notability index. The results show that protection is the key theme for women aged 20–35 years, while elderly individuals are easily influenced by haze-related product ads yet lack awareness of scientific-based protection. Concerns shared by young individuals are more effective in pressuring the government in cities that experience higher levels of pollution. Concerns shared by women are more effective in cities that experience lower levels of pollution. This study evidences the influence of the public concerns conveyed via social media on air pollution governance in China.

At times, certain areas of China suffering from water shortages. While China's government is spurring innovation and infrastructure to help head off such problems, it may be that some water conservation could help as well. It is well-known that water is embodied in traded goods—so called "virtual water trade" (VWT). In China, it seems that many water-poor areas are perversely engaged in VWT. Further, China is engaging in the global trend of fragmentation in production, even as an interregional phenomenon. Perhaps something could be learned about conserving or reducing VWT, if we knew where and how it is practiced. Given some proximate causes, perhaps viable policies could be formulated. To this end, we employ China's multiregional input-output tables straddling two periods to trace the trade of a given region's three types of goods: local final goods, local intermediate goods, and goods that shipped to other regions and countries. We find that goods traded interregionally in China in 2012 embodied 30.4% of all water used nationwide. Nationwide, water use increased substantially over 2007–2012 due to greater shipment volumes of water-intensive products. In fact, as suspected, the rise in value chain-related trade became a major contributing factor. Coastal areas tended to be net receivers of VWT from interior provinces, although reasons differed, e.g. Shanghai received more to fulfill final demand (67.8% of net inflow) and Zhejiang for value-chain related trade (40.2% of net inflow). In sum, the variety of our findings reveals an urgent need to consider trade types and water scarcity when developing water resource allocation and conservation policies.

The final publication is available at Elsevier via https://doi.org/10.1016/j.watres.2019.07.015. © 2019. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ ; At times, certain areas of China suffering from water shortages. While China's government is spurring innovation and infrastructure to help head off such problems, it may be that some water conservation could help as well. It is well-known that water is embodied in traded goods—so called "virtual water trade" (VWT). In China, it seems that many water-poor areas are perversely engaged in VWT. Further, China is engaging in the global trend of fragmentation in production, even as an interregional phenomenon. Perhaps something could be learned about conserving or reducing VWT, if we knew where and how it is practiced. Given some proximate causes, perhaps viable policies could be formulated. To this end, we employ China's multiregional input-output tables straddling two periods to trace the trade of a given region's three types of goods: local final goods, local intermediate goods, and goods that shipped to other regions and countries. We find that goods traded interregionally in China in 2012 embodied 30.4% of all water used nationwide. Nationwide, water use increased substantially over 2007–2012 due to greater shipment volumes of water-intensive products. In fact, as suspected, the rise in value chain-related trade became a major contributing factor. Coastal areas tended to be net receivers of VWT from interior provinces, although reasons differed, e.g. Shanghai received more to fulfill final demand (67.8% of net inflow) and Zhejiang for value-chain related trade (40.2% of net inflow). In sum, the variety of our findings reveals an urgent need to consider trade types and water scarcity when developing water resource allocation and conservation policies. ; This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant no. 71834004; 71673198; 71431005; 41571522; ...