Carbon footprint and embodied carbon transfer at city level: A nested MRIO analysis of Central Plain urban agglomeration in China

With the establishment of several carbon peak and carbon neutrality strategies in China, urban carbon mitigation has become a critical issue. Understanding how cities obtain, distribute, and manage their carbon emissions could be an essential step for collaborative management of regional carbon emission reduction. In the present study, by compiling a nested multi-regional input-output table, an investigation was conducted into the city-level carbon footprints and inter-regional CO2 transfer embodied in the trade of finished goods at home and abroad for 29 cities in Central Plain urban agglomeration. The total carbon footprint of the urban agglomeration was found to be 1144.6 Mt, accounting for 10% of the national emissions, and significant differences were observed in the city-level carbon footprints, ranging from 3.2 Mt (Huaibei) to 176.3 Mt (Zhengzhou). The carbon footprint per capita also varied greatly, from Huaibei (1.4 t) to Jiyuan (20.7 t), and was significantly correlated with GDP per capita. CO2 emissions due to capital formation contributed the most to the carbon footprint, followed by urban consumption. Through the export of numerous industrial products to support infrastructure construction and economic activities, the urban agglomeration received 736.3 Mt net emissions from other regions at home and abroad. Significant embodied CO2 transfer was observed to drift from energy-abundant cities, such as Pingdingshan and Shangqiu, to richer cities, such as Zhengzhou and Luoyang. The inter-city CO2 flows were mainly shaped by heavy industry, construction and service sectors. Finally, targeted mitigation policy methods have been recommended for different types of cities from production and consumption perspectives.