Uncovering the features of environmental burden in China’s metal extraction industries from 1995 to 2018: Evidence from MRIO assessments

Abstract

Abstract As one of the world's largest producers of many mineral resources, China’s metal extraction industries play an important role in the global value chain. However, the price of economic development could be a notable environmental burden, considering theories of the Environmental Kuznets Curve and the pollution-haven hypothesis. In this study, we conduct an environmental-extended multi-regional input-output (EE-MRIO) analysis to assess social, environmental, and climatic footprints of China’s metal extraction industries by four indicators, the total climate change impact, land use-related biodiversity loss, total particulate matter-related health impact, and water stress, in order to uncover features of related environmental burden. Our results show that China has probably borne the largest environmental burden in the global metal extraction value chain, with the four indicators increasing from 229–435% during 1995–2018. In addition, China relied on domestic production for most of its metal extraction, while about 20% − 35% of the environmental burden was associated with exports to other Asian countries, North America and Europe. The majority of the environmental burden in metal extraction were finally attributed to manufacturing and service sectors. Moreover, a decoupling analysis reveals that the four environmental burden indicators can be decoupled from China's economic growth. Finally, we propose several policy recommendations to reduce these environmental burdens and facilitate the development of China’s clean energy technologies.