On the feasibility of a consumer-based allocation method in national GHG inventories

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has defined a comprehensive method for taking into account greenhouse gases (GHGs) emissions released from different countries. The geographical or producer-based perspective currently used in the IPCC framework does not consider (and may therefore encourage) delocalization of production from industrialized to other countries, thus allocating responsibility for emissions associated with goods and services, consumed in one country but produced elsewhere, exclusively to the producer. The Environmentally Extended Input-Output (EEIO) analysis has long been recognized as a useful tool for attributing GHG emissions or resource use to final consumers in a consistent accounting framework. While it is clear that there are several advantages to using a consumer-based perspective with the EEIO analysis, questions regarding the implementation of this methodology have arisen, and its adoption in dealing with GHGs inventory has so far been limited. Here, we propose a formalization, in order to evaluate GHG emissions associated with goods and services that are traded internationally, based on a systemic approach that places the responsibility on consumer countries, and weighs imported and exported goods by applying national carbon intensity factors. The use of these aggregate indicators is appropriate to have a reference point for a worldwide application of this tool in order to implement policies for GHG emission reduction.