Japan prefectural emission accounts and socioeconomic data 2007 to 2015

Extension of Japan's Prefectural Emission Accounting and Enrichment of Socioeconomic Data from 1990 to 2020

With the continuous increase in carbon dioxide emissions due to human activities and the resulting severe climate issues, there is global concern about energy conservation and emission reduction. However, detailed data on energy consumption and emissions at a fine-grained scale, particularly regarding spatial dimensions and sector-specific emissions, remains insufficient and in need of refinement and timely updates. In Japan, following the Fukushima nuclear disaster, there has been a significant shift from nuclear power generation to reliance on fossil fuels across various sectors, highlighting disparities in emissions data across different regions and industries. Our work extends the emissions time series for Japan's 47 prefectures, incorporating their socioeconomic characteristics over a broader time frame and with a more detailed sectoral classification. The emissions inventory, covering the period from 1990 to 2020, is based on the consumption of the three main fossil fuels across 32 sectors, with emissions carefully allocated for regional power generation. This dataset, presented in a unified format, is expanded to include longer time scales and more detailed socioeconomic data. It is anticipated to offer crucial insights for establishing regional emission reduction targets and identifying sectoral priorities for decarbonization.

Emission accounting and drivers in Central Asian countries

Emerging countries are at the frontier of climate change actions, and carbon emissions accounting provides a quantifiable measure of the environmental impact of economic activities, which allows for comparisons of emissions across different entities. However, currently there is no study covering detailed emissions inventories for emerging countries in Central Asian. This paper compiles detailed and accurate carbon emissions inventories in several Central Asian countries (i.e., Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Palestine, Tajikistan, and Uzbekistan) during the period 2010-2020. Using the IPCC administrative territorial approach, we for the first time compile their emissions inventories in 47 economic sectors and five energy categories. Moreover, we also investigate decoupling status based on Tapio decoupling model and examine emissions driving factors based on the index decomposition analysis method. The primary results illustrate that carbon emissions in Central Asian countries are increasing with huge differences. Decoupling results highlight that most of the sample countries still need more effort to decouple the economy and emissions except that Pakistan achieves an ideal strong decoupling state. The results of the decomposition indicate that the economy and population both raise emissions, while energy intensity and carbon intensity are negative drivers in some countries. We propose practical policy implications for decarbonization and energy transition roadmap in Central Asian countries.

The impact of economic policy uncertainty on carbon emissions: evaluating the role of foreign capital investment and renewable energy in East Asian economies

This study aims to investigate the relationship between carbon emissions (CO₂) and economic policy uncertainty for East Asian countries. During recent decades, climate change has become a severe issue globally. To our understanding, the impact of economic policy uncertainty (EPU) on CO₂ emissions has not been thoroughly studied in the environment-energy literature. To overcome this research gap, this study explores the link between EPU, CO₂ emissions, foreign direct investment (FDI), and renewable energy for the panel of four East Asian economies, namely, China, Japan, South Korea, and Singapore, from 1997 to 2020. We used second-generation econometric estimations to confirm cross-sectional dependence, cointegration, and stationarity among the selected variables. This study finds that economic policy uncertanity (EPU), trade, and GDP have a positive correlation with carbon emissions. However, FDI and renewable energy consumption boost the quality of the environment of East Asian economies. The outcomes of the Dumitrescu-Hurlin panel causality estimation revealed two-way association between CO₂ and economic policy uncertainty, CO₂ and energy consumption, CO₂ and economic growth, and CO₂ and trade. Afterward, we use the FMOLS estimations for robustness check. Based on the inclusive outcomes, we draw substantial suggestions for decision-makers and urge them to consider the potential negative effects of EPU on CO₂ emissions policies. In addition to this, if policymakers seek to simultaneously control EPU and CO₂ emissions, they should work out for alternate ways such as the use of green technology related to energy, foreign capital investment, and renewable energy consumption to mitigate CO₂ emissions.

Negligible impacts of early COVID-19 confinement on household carbon footprints in Japan

The rapid and extensive changes in household consumption patterns during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic can serve as a natural experiment for exploring the environmental outcomes of changing human behavior. Here, we assess the carbon footprint of household consumption in Japan during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic (January–May 2020), which were characterized by moderate confinement measures. The associated lifestyle changes did not have a significant effect on the overall household carbon footprint compared with 2015–2019 levels. However, there were significant trade-offs between individual consumption categories such that the carbon footprint increased for some categories (e.g., eating at home) or declined (e.g., eating out, transportation, clothing, and entertainment) or remained relatively unchanged (e.g., housing) for others. Furthermore, carbon footprint patterns between age groups were largely consistent with 2015–2019 levels. However, changes in food-related carbon footprints were visible for all age groups since March and, in some cases, since February.

Households are major sources of greenhouse gase (GHG) emissions both directly through energy use for transport, heating, and other activities and indirectly through emissions embedded in the goods and services they consume. Changes in lifestyles and consumption patterns can have major ramifications for GHG emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic catalyzed profound and rapid lifestyle shifts, which makes it a natural experiment for studying the outcomes of such changes for GHG emissions. Despite shifts in the work, socialization, and consumption practices of Japanese households during the early stages of the pandemic (January–May 2020), the overall changes in carbon footprints were negligible. Despite some trade-offs between consumption categories, the general carbon footprint patterns remained similar to 2015–2019 trends and are consistent among age groups. This has implications for decarbonization efforts in that the environmental benefits of changes in consumption patterns might not materialize automatically and be easily reversible.