期刊名称：International Journal of Energy and Environment
印刷版ISSN：2076-2895
电子版ISSN：2076-2909
出版年度：2011
卷号：2
期号：3
页码：447-462
出版社：International Energy and Environment Foundation (IEEF)
摘要：In order to find the main driving forces affecting CO2 emission patterns and the relationship between economic development and CO2 emissions, this paper uses models of -convergence, absolute Beta-convergence and conditional Beta-convergence to analyze the inner characteristics of CO2 emissions and the income level of 128 countries (and regions) in the world. The countries (and regions) are divided into 5 groups based on their per capita income levels. The results show that in the past 40 years, all the groups showed trends of convergence on the CO2 emissions. In terms of emission levels, lagging countries (and regions) tend to catch up with advanced nations, with convergence tending to be conditional on country-specific characteristics such as energy use and energy structures rather than absolute convergence. Then this paper examines the impacts of selected variables such as GDP per capita, population, oil, gas, coal etc. on the emission trends. The analysis on the impacting factors shows that for the developing countries (and regions), the levels of economic development have greater effects on their carbon emissions patterns. And for the developed countries (and regions), the energy consumption structures wielded a big influence for the past 40 years. We find that the growth speed of CO2 emissions in developed countries (and regions) would get slower, and those of the developing countries (and regions) give expression to catching-up effects. These findings are expected to shed a light on the global policy making in coping climate change.
