Carbon balance of the Austrian foreign trade.
Embodied CO2 emissions of Austrian imports and exports.
Creation of a data base of CO2 emissions embodied in the Austrian imports and exports.

Within this project, funded by the Austrian Climate and Energy Fund, a data base of CO2 emissions embodied in the Austrian foreign trade, so called carbon lerucksacks, was created.

Climate change is a global problem that needs global action. National policy measures addressing the reduction of domestic CO2 emissions may increase emissions of other countries and therefore counteract the global fight against climate change. This phenomenon is generally known as carbon leakage. This term describes the relocation of production processes and therefore CO2 emissions as a result of national policy measures which undermines emission reduction efforts and may even offset them.

In order to assess the global impacts of a climate change policy international trade has to be considered. We, therefore, calculated the CO2 emissions embodied in the Austrian exports and imports for the period of 1995 to 2005 based on the Global Resource Accounting Model (GRAM), and derived consumption-based emission accounts and trade balances, rather than mere emissions caused by domestic production, as accounted for by ordinary CO2 accounts like these used within the Kyoto Protocol.

The results confirm the global shift of carbon emissions through international trade. In 1995, the imports of CO2 rucksacks of those countries that have pledged to specific emission reductions within the Kyoto Protocol (Annex-B-countries) exceeded their exports by about 1.5 billion tonnes, what corresponds to a shift of 7% of global CO2 emissions from industrialised to mostly emerging and developing countries. By 2005, this amount has almost doubled, the Annex B countries accounted 10 years later, with net imports of 2.8 billion tons of CO2 (equivalent to more than 10% of global CO2 emissions).

The average annual production of CO2 emissions in the EU27 amounted in 2005 to 8.2 tons per person, while the EU’s consumption caused 11.2 metric CO2 per person. Developing countries accounted in 2005, however, CO2 emissions of less than 3 tons per person, while the consumption in these countries was actually only 1.4 tonnes per person. Especially the consumption within the largest emitters of CO2 emissions is therefore driving force for CO2 emissions in other world regions.

Austria accounted in 1995 for 62 Million tons of production-based emissions (corresponding to 7.7 tons per capita) and 88 Million tons of consumption-based emissions (10.9 tons per capita). Within the analysed period Austrian territorial emissions increased by 24% to 77 Million tons (9.3 tons per capita). Emissions embodied in Austrian consumption increased by even 38% to 122 Million tons (14.7 tons per capita) and, thus, exceeded CO2 production by 58%.

Detailed results for countries and world regions and sectoral analysis of Austrian production and consumption-based emissions can be found in the Final Report (in German) to be downloaded .

The results are provided on-line in the form of an Excel-based data set and can easily be used and adopted for model simulations, e.g. to calculate global effects on carbon emissions by structural change or changing life styles and consumption patterns (download here).

Project partners

  • GWS, Osnabrück


Project duration

  • December 2008 – December 2009

Client

  • Austrian Climate and Energy Fund


Related themes


provide a data set that can easily be used and adopted for model simulations, e.g. to calculate global effects on carbon emissions by structural change or changing life styles and consumption patterns.
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