Interregional Flows of Embodied Carbon Storage Associated with Land-Use Change in China

Abstract

With the continuous expansion of regional trade, interregional teleconnections have an increasingly pronounced impact on the changes in carbon storage caused by land use in China. Current research in this area remains remarkably limited, however. This study employs land-use data, carbon density data, and a multiregional input–output model to precisely quantify the embodied flow and spatial patterns of land-use carbon storage in China. We found that the carbon storage embodied in interprovincial trade in China accounts for 34.9 percent of total carbon storage, with cropland (44.9 percent) and woodland (43.6 percent) representing the highest proportions within their land-use categories. Inner Mongolia, Heilongjiang, and Tibet were found to be the most externally driven in terms of land-use-related carbon storage, with outflows exceeding 2,000 Tg C. Beijing, Tianjin, and Shanghai, on the other hand, were shown to consume up to 90 percent of land-use-related carbon storage inflows, showcasing the strongest external dependence. Additionally, Hunan (1,300.5 Tg C), Hubei (863.4 Tg C), Henan (1,534.6 Tg C), and Shanxi (2,223.6 Tg C) are the provinces where changes in land-use carbon storage are most significant, exerting the greatest influence on changes in China’s total carbon storage. China’s international export of land-use-related embodied carbon storage decreased by 3,964.7 Tg C during the study period, with woodland (1,516.8 Tg C) and grassland (1,505.7 Tg C) being the primary declining land types. Interestingly, as land utilization efficiency continues to rise, over half of the provinces have seen an increase in export trade value, while their corresponding embodied carbon storage has declined. The findings not only unveil the complex dynamics and spatial distribution at work in China’s embodied land-use-related carbon storage but also provide practical insights and directions for achieving carbon neutrality goals.

Key Words:

• carbon storage
• interregional trade
• land use
• multiregional input–output analysis
• teleconnection

Acknowledgments

We appreciate the valuable comments from the anonymous reviewers, especially the reviewer who provided very detailed suggestions to improve this article.

Disclosure Statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Supplemental Material

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed on the publisher's site at: https://doi.org/10.1080/24694452.2024.2356849.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by National Social Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 23&ZD100).

Notes on contributors

Shaojian Wang

SHAOJIAN WANG is a Professor in the School of Urban Design, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, P.R. China, and the School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, P.R. China. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include urbanization, environmental changes, and urban geography.

Shijie Zhou

SHIJIE ZHOU is a Master’s Student supervised by Shaojian Wang at the School of Geography and Planning, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou 510006, P.R. China. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research focuses on low-carbon sustainable development.

Rong Wu

RONG WU is an Associate Professor in the School of Architecture and Urban Planning, Guangdong University of Technology, Guangzhou 510062, P.R. China. E-mail: [email protected]. Her research interests include urban space and planning, urban environment and civic well-being, and social geography.

Kuishuang Feng

KUISHUANG FENG is a Professor in the Department of Geographical Sciences, University of Maryland, College Park, MD 20742. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include ecological economics, climate change, land-use change, and input–output analysis.

Klaus Hubacek

KLAUS HUBACEK is a Professor in the Energy and Sustainability Research Institute Groningen, University of Groningen, Groningen, 9747 AG, Netherlands. E-mail: [email protected]. His research interests include ecological economics and climate change.