Title: A consumption-based, regional input-output analysis of greenhouse gas emissions and the carbon regional index

Authors: Bas Straatman; Britta Boyd; Diana Mangalagiu; Peter Rathje; Christian Eriksen; Bjarne Madsen; Irena Stefaniak; Morten Jensen; Steen Rasmussen

Addresses: Initiative for Science, Society and Policy (ISSP), University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense, Denmark; The Institute for Energy, Environment and Economy (ISEEE), University of Calgary, Calgary, AB T2N 1N4, Canada ' Department of Entrepreneurship and Relationship Management, University of Southern Denmark, Sønderborg, Denmark ' NEOMA Business School, 1 Rue du Maréchal Juin, 76130 Mont-Saint-Aignan, France ' ProjectZero, Alsion 2, Sønderborg, Denmark ' NIRAS A/S, Sortemosevej 19, 3450 Allerød, Denmark ' Center for Regional and Tourism Research, Copenhagen, Denmark ' Center for Regional and Tourism Research, Copenhagen, Denmark ' Center for Regional and Tourism Research, Copenhagen, Denmark ' Center for Fundamental Living Technology (FLinT) and Initiative for Science, Society and Policy (ISSP), University of Southern Denmark, Campusvej 55, 5230 Odense, Denmark; Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87501, USA

Abstract: This paper presents a consumption-based method accounting for greenhouse gas emissions at regional level based on a multi-region input-output model. The method is based on regional consumption and includes imports and exports of emissions, factual emission developments, green investments as well as low carbon development policies. We comparatively analyse three regional case studies in Denmark and show how regional initiatives implemented to reduce emissions are translated into easy to access input-output parameter changes and how the method transparently assesses the impact of various long-term regional climate plans on emissions. For the comparative analysis we further develop a carbon regional index (CRI), which delineates five key dimensions that define past, current and planned regional and embedded emissions. The method can form a basis for regional climate policies, promote the export of solutions from one region to another and enable policy-makers to observe good practices and test them at regional level before potential implementation on a larger scale.

Keywords: regional input-output analysis; carbon footprint; emissions import and export; regional comparison; carbon regional index; CRI; comparative benchmarking; Denmark.

DOI: 10.1504/IJETM.2018.092559

International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management, 2018 Vol.21 No.1/2, pp.1 - 36

Accepted: 07 Feb 2018
Published online: 24 Jun 2018 *

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