Country-by-country estimates of CO2 emissions typically include only those emissions produced from the burning of fossil fuels within a given nation, but now a study reveals a comprehensive accounting method that tracks the entire supply chain of global CO2 emissions.
Researchers used international trade data from 2004 to create a model that tracks carbon emissions among 57 industrial sectors and 112 countries, beginning with the extraction and export of fossil fuels, including the use of those fuels in the production of goods and services, and ending with the ultimate consumption of those products.
The findings may be useful for determining how and where to regulate CO2 emissions, and in evaluating the efficiency of enacted policies.
Read more at Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences