China’s Interprovincial Tourism Carbon Compensation Based On Relative Carbon Deficits:Regional Characteristics And Compensation Sequence

The contribution of tourism to global GDP exceeds that of many other economic sectors.At the same time,the carbon dioxide emissions brought by tourism have also attracted the attention of countries all over the world,and effective measures must be taken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.China’s tourism industry has developed rapidly,with an average annual growth rate of 9.91%in tourism carbon emissions from 1991 to 2018.As a developing country and a large carbon emitter,the coordination between China’s regional economic development and environmental protection is particularly important.At this time,the measurement of regional carbon emissions in the tourism industry and the regional carbon compensation in the tourism industry can become an effective means of its realization.Regional carbon compensation in the tourism industry is an important and challenging task.It is necessary to take into account the differences in economic and social resources between different regions in order to clarify the tourism carbon emission responsibilities and effectively play the role of carbon compensation to stimulate carbon compensate the autonomy of the payment area.This article provides a complete and fair carbon compensation system for China’s tourism industry from the perspective of regional characteristics and compensation sequence.First,this paper uses the bottom-up method to calculate the tourism carbon footprint and carbon absorption of 31 provinces in China from 2008 to 2017,and briefly describes the dynamic characteristics of the total amount of the two.Secondly,this paper introduces the concept of theoretical carbon deficit,based on the principles of fairness and efficiency,adjusts the actual cost of carbon compensation in tourism to the relative cost of carbon compensation in tourism,and uses the Moran index to analyze the accumulation of provincial carbon compensation.Finally,according to the ECP,this paper determines the priority of tourism carbon compensation in each region,and establishes the carbon balance division of each region through ESC-ECC.The results show:(1)The development status of tourism carbon emissions and carbon absorption varies greatly among provinces.From 2008 to 2017,the tourism carbon footprint and tourism carbon absorption of China’s provinces have increased year by year,but the provincial tourism carbon footprint and tourism carbon absorption are obviously not matched in quantity and structure.(2)Relative carbon compensation is more reasonable than actual carbon compensation.Relative carbon compensation balances the total revenue and expenditure of carbon compensation in China’s inter-provincial tourism industry,and changes the "supply-demand"mismatch of actual carbon compensation.The provinces that pay for actual tourism carbon compensations are mainly located in the eastern coastal areas,and the provinces that receive carbon compensation costs are widely distributed in the northwest,northeast,and central regions.The payment provinces and recipient provinces of tourism relative carbon compensation are mainly divided by the"Heihe-Tengchong Line",which is the contrast line of China’s population density.The tourism relative carbon compensation payment provinces are mainly distributed on the southeast side of the "Hu Huanyong Line",and the carbon compensation receiving regions are distributed in Northwest of the "Hu Huanyong Line".(3)Before 2014,the spatial agglomeration of tourism relative to carbon compensation was significant.In recent years,the spatial correlation has declined,and the difference between provinces has been expanding.(4)The provinces that give priority to paying carbon compensation are concentrated in the eastern coastal areas,while the provinces with the highest acceptance are concentrated in northwest China.(5)From the perspective of low-carbon coordinated development of the tourism industry,this article divides China’s provinces into eight regions,and the compensation priority and carbon balance zoning results show a high degree of agreement.The total carbon control zone covers 14 provinces with serious problems in the development of tourism,among which 85.7%of the provinces have the highest carbon compensation payment order.The provinces with the highest carbon compensation acceptance order are also mostly distributed in the carbon sink functional area.This article provides a targeted reference for each region to fulfill the responsibility of tourism carbon compensation.Compared with existing research,this article expands from research methods,research perspectives and research data:(1)Establish a fair and reasonable inter-provincial carbon compensation space selection mechanism for tourism.Based on the theoretical carbon deficit,the actual carbon compensation of tourism in 31 provinces in China is optimized to the relative carbon compensation of tourism,and the spatial distribution and regional characteristics of the relative carbon compensation of tourism are explored.(2)Provide decision support from two perspectives of compensation priority and compensation standard.Comprehensively consider the vulnerability,responsibilities and capabilities of the compensation area,establish the priority index of regional tourism carbon compensation,and analyze the payment ability and the needs of the compensation subject.From the perspective of low-carbon coordinated development of the tourism industry,China’s provinces are divided into eight major regions,providing targeted references for each region to fulfill its responsibility for carbon compensation in the tourism industry.(3)In terms of research data,consider carbon offsets in the tourism and catering industry,and use more detailed and rigorous data samples to calculate carbon offsets in the tourism industry in various regions.