Study On Calculation And Influencing Factors Of Carbon Footprint Of Low Carbon Pilot Provinces In China

It is generally known that the excessive emissions of greenhouse gas(GHG)represented by carbon dioxide are the main cause of global warming.As one of the world's largest carbon emitters,China has the responsibility to reduce the carbon emissions.In the face of tremendous pressure of carbon emissions reduction,China promises to decrease carbon intensity by 60%-65% in 2030 as compared to that in 2005 at Paris climate change conference.National Development and Reform Commission responded positively to the target and developed three batches of low carbon pilot provinces and cities.At present,the low carbon pilot work has been implemented for many years,it is particularly significant to recognize the effectiveness of the pilot work.Therefore,it is necessary to study the current status of carbon footprint of low carbon pilot provinces in China and to explore the influencing factors of carbon footprint.It is helpful to make clear the important focus of the low carbon work in various provinces and put forward the corresponding countermeasures and suggestions.This study calculates and analyzes the carbon footprint and its related indicators of nine low carbon pilot provinces from 2006 to 2015.Based on the above calculation and analysis,this study analyzes the influencing factors of carbon footprint in low carbon pilot provinces,it mainly includes identifying the main influencing factors of carbon footprint,establishing the influencing factor analysis model of carbon footprint based on the ‘Stochastic Impacts by Regression on Population,Affluence,and Technology'(STIRPAT)Model,calculating the influencing degree of each factor on the carbon footprint and analyzing the current status,characteristics and commonalities of the carbon footprint influencing factors in various provinces.The main conclusions of this study are as follows:1)From 2006 to 2015,the carbon footprint of nine low carbon pilot provinces showed a rising trend,and the net carbon footprint in Yunnan was less than 0,besides that,the net carbon footprint of the other eight low carbon pilot provinces was larger than 0.In addition,after the implementation of low carbon pilot work,average growth rate of carbon footprint and net carbon footprint of nine provinces during the period after the pilot was significantly lower than that before the pilot.2)This study identified four carbon footprint influencing factors,including population,per capita GDP at constant prices,proportion of the secondary and tertiary industries to the GDP and patents numbers.The impacts of four factors on the carbon footprint of low carbon pilot provinces are quite different,but there are some commonalities.The four influencing factors have the positive correlation with the carbon footprint.Industrial structure is the most important influencing factor of carbon footprint.Population is another important influencing factor of carbon footprint.The impacts of economic development and technological level on the carbon footprint are relatively low.Based on the above results,this study puts forward the countermeasures and suggestions for the low carbon development from the four aspects of economy,population,technology and policy,which include changing the mode of economic development,promoting industrial upgrading,optimizing the population structure,improving citizens' low carbon awareness,developing low carbon and advanced technology,regulating macro policy,promoting the coordinated development between provinces.This study not only provides important theoretical references for the low carbon development strategies of provinces in China,but also enriches the literature about carbon footprint and its influencing factors of low carbon pilot provinces.