Variations of provincial CO₂ emissions under multiple perspectives in China

China is a vast country with great regional variations in economy level, resource endowments, industrial structure, demographics, and CO₂ emissions level. Previous studies on regional CO₂ emissions were usually confined to production-or consumption-based perspectives and neglected the emissions under income-based perspective as they also can be enabled by the use of primary inputs. To fill this gap, we investigate the variations of provincial CO₂ emissions under these three perspectives in China during 2007–2012 and intend to identify out which type of final demand and primary input contributes most to the variations of provincial CO₂ emissions. Results show that variations of domestic outflow and gross fixed capital formation contributed most to the emissions growth for most provinces under consumption-based perspective, while variations of domestic inflow and compensation of employees did so under income-based perspective. This work can help guide the development of just and effective mitigation policies for various provinces in China.