Zhang, Z., Guan, D., Wang, R. et al. Embodied carbon emissions in the supply chains of multinational enterprises. Nat. Clim. Chang. 10, 1096–1101 (2020)

Objective:

• Present a comprehensive study to trace carbon emissions embedied in the supply chains of global multinational enterprises (MNE)

Case:

• Global

Methodology:

• Input-output:
  • Leontief matrix

Data Source

• IO table: OECD
• FDI: OECD and US
• Carbon emission: IEA

Findings:

• Carbon footprint accounts for 18.7% of gloabl emissions
• The first peak happens in 2008. After the financial crisis, carbon footprints of MNE increased again and reached secondary and highest peak in 2011

• The major contributor is the growth in the outputs of MNEs
• China is the largest hosting region in 2016, followed by EU and US
• The largest carbon transfer through investment is from Chinese Hong Kong to mainland

• The volume of the carbon footprints of MNEs invested by developed countries was greater than the volume of their territorial emissions induced by foreign-owned enterprises, with the opposite findings for developing countries
• Chinese mainland has the largest net negative balance of embedied emissions in supply chains of MNEs

Coding Reference:

• Matlab