Assessing consumption-based carbon footprint of China's food industry in global supply chain

With the acceleration of industrialization and rapid demand growth, carbon emissions increased dramatically in China's food industry during the past two decades. However, the uncertainty of the emission level of China's food industry alongside the global supply chain restricts China from implementing more sustainable food policies. Thus, this paper first estimates the carbon footprint in China's food manufacturing industry domestically and in-ternationally by identifying major trade partners and the corresponding industries using a multi-regional input-output model. Then, this paper further decomposed the determinants of carbon footprint change. The results show that agriculture, food industry, transport, and energy supply are primarily responsible for carbon emission growth. The structural decomposition results further demonstrate that increasing demand and consumption pat-tern changes are important factors leading to a growth in carbon emission, and energy efficiency improvement helps China's food industry mitigate the emission level. Finally, policy recommendations are provided based on the decomposition results.(c) 2022 Institution of Chemical Engineers. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

With the growth of industrialization and demand, carbon emissions in China's food industry have increased significantly over the past two decades. However, the uncertainty in emission levels within China's food industry and the global supply chain hinder the implementation of sustainable food policies. This study estimates the carbon footprint of China's food manufacturing industry both domestically and internationally, identifies major trade partners and corresponding industries, and decomposes the determinants of carbon footprint change. The results indicate that agriculture, food industry, transport, and energy supply play significant roles in carbon emission growth. Additionally, increasing demand, consumption pattern changes, and energy efficiency improvements affect the emission level. Policy recommendations are provided based on the decomposition results.