Academy of Mathematics and Systems Science, CAS
Colloquia & Seminars

Speaker:	祝坤福，中国人民大学
Inviter:	陈锡康
Title:	Embodied carbon emissions in the supply chains of multinational enterprises
Language:	English
Time & Venue:	2023.07.13 14:00-15:00 南楼210
Abstract:	Enterprises are at the forefront of climate actions and multinational enterprises (MNEs) engage in foreign direct investment (FDI), allowing them significant influence over the entire supply chain. Yet emissions embodied in MNEs international supply chains are poorly known. Here we trace the carbon footprints of MNEs foreign affiliates and show the gross volume of global carbon transfer through investment peaked in 2011, mainly driven by the decline in carbon intensity. Despite declining carbon footprints of developed country-based MNEs, there has been a significant increase in carbon transfer sourced from the Chinese mainland. We propose an investment-based accounting framework to allocate carbon footprints of MNEs to the investing country. Investment-based accounting of emissions could inform targeted and effective climate policies and actions. For instance, some large MNEs play a crucial role in carbon transfer, therefore their originating country should bear more responsibilities of carbon emission reduction as an investor.