China’s Initial Allocation Of Interprovincial Carbon Emission Rights And Their Efficiency Evaluation

With the rapid economic development,the carbon dioxide emitted by various economic activities has caused the problem of global warming to become increasingly serious.How to consider energy conservation and emission reduction while economic development has become a common challenge facing all mankind.To cope with global warming,China,as the world’s largest carbon emitter,has set a carbon emission reduction target of 40%to 45%by 2020 compared with the 2005 level.The successful completion of the 2020 carbon intensity target is the key for China to show the world its emission reduction capabilities and results.At the same time,China also introduced a carbon market mechanism.Since 2013,seven carbon trading markets piloted in Beijing,Shanghai,Tianjin,Hubei,Guangdong,Shenzhen,and Chongqing,and in December 2017 launched the carbon trading market nationwide.Establishing a fair and reasonable initial allocation scheme for carbon emission rights is a prerequisite for the efficient and stable operation of the carbon market and an important guarantee for China to achieve its emission reduction target.This study considers the historical transfer of carbon emissions and measures the cumulative net carbon emissions of China’s provinces based on the principle of consumer responsibility.It draws up an initial allocation plan for carbon emission rights in China’s provinces in 2020,based on the principles of equity,efficiency,and sustainability.The carbon emission and carbon intensity efficiencies of the provinces under this distribution scheme were also evaluated.In addition,exploring and studying the trading system of my country’s carbon financial market is crucial to effectively avoiding risks in trading,and is of great significance to the establishment of the current national unified carbon market.This paper explores the effectiveness of China’s carbon emission trading market based on fractal market theory,and provides suggestions for the efficient and orderly operation of my country’s carbon financial trading market.Compared with existing research,the innovations of this study are as follows:(1)Based on the existing principles of fair and efficient allocation,the principle of sustainability has been added,using the value of ecosystem services as an indicator of regional sustainability,and a more complete index system for the initial allocation of carbon emission rights has been established.(2)In the initial allocation of China’s interprovincial carbon emission rights,each region’s historical carbon transfer is considered.Historical interprovincial carbon transfer affects the true pattern of carbon emissions in China.Considering the transfer of historical carbon emissions between regions in the initial allocation of interprovincial carbon emission rights is conducive to improving the equity of carbon emission responsibility verification,reducing the cost of carbon emission reduction in China,and increasing the efficiency of carbon emission reduction.(3)The efficiency evaluation of the initial allocation of china’s inter-provincial carbon emission rights is carried out by using the non-directional distance function model.The result shows:(1)From the results of carbon transfer calculations,the historical net carbon export area mainly consists of energy-intensive provinces and economically underdeveloped poor and remote provinces.Additionally,the historical net carbon import area mainly consists of energy-starved and economically developed provinces.(2)From the perspective of historical net carbon emissions,densely populated areas(Shandong,Hebei,and Henan),economically developed coastal areas(Jiangsu,Guangdong,etc.),and areas with a good resource endowment(Inner Mongolia,and Liaoning)emit more carbon dioxide.(3)Judging from the results of carbon allowance allocation,China has a large area,the development of various regions is uneven and uncoordinated,and the initial carbon emission rights obtained from the allocation are significantly different.Provinces with high-value ecological services(Xinjiang,Heilongjiang,and Inner Mongolia)or with large economies and dense populations(Shandong,Guangdong,and Sichuan)will receive higher carbon emission rights,while those with developed economies(Shanghai,Beijing,and Tianjin)will receive lower carbon emission rights.(4)From the comparison of future carbon emissions space,provinces with a good ecological environment(Inner Mongolia,Heilongjiang,and Xinjiang)as well as certain economically underdeveloped western provinces(Chongqing,Sichuan,and Yunnan)will have abundant carbon space in the future.Provinces with rapid economic development(Beijing,Shanghai,and Jiangsu)and resource-based provinces(Shanxi and Liaoning)with a high historical carbon output have little carbon space.Provinces with scarce carbon space will have a huge difficulty in reducing emissions in the future.To complete the 2020 emission reduction tasks,we should focus on the development of emission reduction in this region.(5)Considering the historical carbon transfer,the carbon emission rights allocation system will benefit resource-based industrial provinces(Shanxi,Inner Mongolia,and Liaoning)and less developed western provinces(Shaanxi,Ningxia,and Xinjiang)in improving their carbon emission efficiency.Based on this,this article puts forward the following suggestions:(1)Resource-based provinces should be based on resources and follow the path of diversified economic development.(2)The government should establish a regional carbon emission account system that considers carbon transfer responsibilities.(3)Improve the relevant policies of the carbon emission trading market as soon as possible,and accelerate the pace of building a unified national carbon trading market.This article provides new research ideas for formulating a more equitable and efficient allocation of carbon emission rights:the allocation of carbon emission rights should consider multiple factors such as fairness,efficiency,and the environment.At the same time,the quantified carbon emission responsibility should not only remain on the surface of the region,but pay attention to inter-regional carbon transfer links.And this article confirms that the current carbon financial trading market in my country has not yet reached the weak effective,and the related trading system still needs to be further improved in the future.