A Method to Create Carbon Footprint Estimates Consistent With National Accounts

Abstract

Although multiregional input-output (MRIO) databases use data from national statistical offices, the reconciliation of various data sources results in significantly altered country data. This makes it problematic to use MRIO-based footprints for national policy-making. This paper develops a potential solution using the Netherlands as case study. The method ensures that the footprint is derived from an MRIO dataset (in our case the World Input-Output Database (WIOD)) that is made consistent with Dutch National accounts data. Furthermore, usage of microdata allows us to separate re-exports at the company level. The adjustment results in a foreign footprint in 2009 that is 22% lower than the original WIOD estimates and a significantly altered country allocation. We demonstrate that already in the data preparation phase due to the treatment of re-exports and margins, large differences arise with Dutch national statistics, which may help explain the variation in footprint estimates across MRIO databases.

Does consistency with detailed national data matter for calculating carbon footprints with global multi-regional input–output tables? A comparative analysis for Belgium based on a structural decomposition

“…As a second step, we compare Belgium's carbon footprint based on the original WIOD MRIO tables with the country's carbon footprint based on WIODBEL MRIO tables for the years 1995-2007. Hence, compared to Edens et al (2015) we observe not only differences in carbon footprint levels but also differences in the trend over time. Moreover, we analyse the difference between WIOD and WIODBEL carbon footprints for Belgium by means of structural decomposition analysis (SDA), identifying to what extent differences in emission intensities, input structure, and imports and exports contribute to differences in footprint results.…”

“…However, data for individual countries in MRIO databases differ from (official) national data. This was first pointed out by Wilting (2012) and then analysed in detail in Edens et al (2015). Discrepancies with respect to national data are due to differences in source data and adjustments made in the construction process of the multi-regional tables.…”

“…The project consisted in revising and updating Belgian SUT for the years 1995-2007 so as to produce a time series of SUT consistent with the then most recent national accounts (NA) vintage (November 2010). On the other hand, we have chosen WIOD among the available MRIO databases for the same reasons as Edens et al (2015): because it largely respects countries' national accounts totals, because the WIOD MRIO tables are derived from supply-and-use tables (SUT), because of its open source character whereby the SUT and final result MRIO tables are freely available on the WIOD website, and because it contains a time series of MRIO tables. EXIOBASE2 also fulfils the first three criteria, but only contains data for 2007.…”

“…For calculating the UK's carbon footprint, a specific UKMRIO is built, which combines national IO tables for the UK with data from the Eora MRIO tables (see Owen et al 2017). The issue has been addressed most thoroughly for the Netherlands in Edens et al (2015). They have reproduced World Input-Output Database (WIOD) MRIO tables for 2003 and 2009 that fully respect national accounts and trade data for the Netherlands and used them to calculate the country's carbon footprint, which turns out lower than in calculations based on the original WIOD MRIO tables.…”

“…For this purpose, we estimate Belgium's carbon footprint with MRIO tables into which we have integrated detailed data from Belgian supply-and-use tables (including valuation tables and the import use table). As a first step, we rebuild WIOD MRIO tables for all years from 1995 to 2007 along the lines of what Edens et al (2015) have done for the Netherlands, injecting data from a series of temporally consistent supply-and-use tables for Belgium (Avonds et al 2012). We refer to these tables as WIODBEL MRIO tables.…”