CO2 emissions and intersectoral linkages. The case of Spain

This paper proposes a methodology to identify the most relevant productive transactions in terms of CO2 emissions in the most polluting sectors of an economy and applies this methodology to the Spanish case. Emissions can be related to the CO2 emissions intensity of sectors (CO2 intensity factor), to the size of the economy's flows (scale factor), to the input–output productive relationships within an economy (technology-production factor) and to the structure of final demand of different sectors (demand factor). A formal analysis of these factors is carried out by means of an input–output framework combined with a sensitivity analysis. By considering key sectors and relevant transactions in terms of CO2 emissions, the most effective policy measures aimed at reducing CO2 emissions can be identified.