Comparisons of the European carbon footprint (2000–2006) from three different perspectives within a multi-regional framework

We would expect the levels of carbon dioxide emissions per unit of production in non-European Union (EU) countries to be much greater than those in EU countries. Accordingly, a reduction in the import shares of intermediate inputs and/or final demand of the European economy should lead to more domestic intermediate and final uses and, therefore, to a reduction in the carbon footprint of the European economy when compared with the initial situation. However, we will prove that only when different emission coefficients are considered for non-EU and EU countries, then the European import shares reduction that occurred during the period 2000–2006 will be fully captured by carbon footprint analysis. Otherwise, the derived carbon footprint will be distorted by the fact that the evolution of the import shares will not affect those estimations. Moreover, the results of our analysis are independent of the assumption of common production technologies in the rest of the world.JRC.J.5-Sustainable Production and Consumptio