Zhang, Z; Guan, D; Wang, R; Meng, J; Zheng, H; Zhu, K; Du, H; (2020) Embodied carbon emissions in the supply chains of multinational enterprises. Nature Climate Change , 10 pp. 1096-1101. 10.1038/s41558-020-0895-9.

Preview

Text Guan_BW_edits_1595246083_70.pdf - Accepted Version Download (2MB) | Preview

Abstract

Enterprises are at the forefront of climate actions and multinational enterprises (MNEs) engage in foreign direct investment, allowing them substantial influence over the entire supply chain. Yet emissions embodied in the international supply chains of MNEs are poorly known. Here we trace the carbon footprints of foreign affiliates of MNEs and show that the gross volume of global carbon transfer through investment peaked in 2011, mainly driven by the decline in carbon intensity. Despite declining carbon footprints of developed country-based MNEs, there has been a notable increase in carbon transfer sourced from the Chinese mainland. We propose an investment-based accounting framework to allocate carbon footprints of MNEs to the investing country. Investment-based accounting of emissions could inform targeted and effective climate policies and actions. For instance, some large MNEs play a crucial role in carbon transfer, therefore their originating country should bear more responsibilities of carbon emission reduction as an investor.

Download activity - last month

Export as CSVXMLJSON

Download activity - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Downloads by country - last 12 months

Export as JSONCSVXML

Archive Staff Only

View Item