Analysis of the ecological relationships within the CO 2 transfer network created by global trade and its changes from 2001 to 2010

Zhang, Y., Wu, Q., Wang, X., Fath, B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9440-6842, Liu, G., Hao, Y., & Li, Y. (2017). Analysis of the ecological relationships within the CO 2 transfer network created by global trade and its changes from 2001 to 2010. Journal of Cleaner Production 168 1425-1435. 10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.09.076.

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Abstract

With the increasing scale and scope of global trade, the magnitude of the CO2 flows embodied in goods and services through international trade has aroused great concern among researchers and governments. In this study, we established a global network model of these CO2 transfers from 2001 to 2010 using ecological network analysis and data from the World Input-Output Database for 40 selected countries whose GDP accounted for more than 85% of the total global GDP. Based on the utility analysis, we determined the ecological relationships among the countries involved in the global trade network and their changes during the study period. The analysis revealed that competition and exploitation/control relationships dominated the global network, with each accounting for more than 40% of the total relationships throughout the study period; mutualism accounted for the smallest proportion (less than 4%). More than 80% of the competition and 75% of the exploitation/control relationships were within Europe or involved flows from Europe to North America or Asia. Finland, France, Japan, Greece, and Spain had the largest proportions of competition relationships. In Denmark, Luxembourg, Malta, and Switzerland, exploitation was dominant, whereas in Russia, Indonesia, and India, control was dominant. Our analysis identifies the key nodes of the many adverse ecological relationships within the global CO2 network and those with more mutual relationships. Our work provides a scientific basis for developing more ecologically sustainable national and global CO2 flows through trade.

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