Environmental inequity hidden in skewed water pollutant - value flows via interregional trade in China

Xiong Yiling; Zhang Qianzhi; Tian Xin; Li Haoxin

摘要

Extensive economic growth brings about tremendous water pollutant discharge, which in turn poses great threats to ecosystem and human health, underscoring the vital importance of coordination between economic development and environment. Meanwhile, with the increasing frequency of commodity flows in China, pollutant leakage and the uneven distribution of economic benefits further enlarge the preexisting economic disparities among regions and trigger regional environmental inequities. Therefore, to understand the status quo of the inequities in China, we calculated the regional environmental inequity index (EI) of thirty provinces in terms of water pollution and value added, and further investigated the flow and important paths across provinces and sectors of water pollution and value added by combining multi-regional input-output analysis and structural path analysis. The results showed that northeastern and part of central and northwestern regions suffered from the most serious environmental inequity, while the eastern and southern coastal provinces benefited the most from interregional trade in 2015. Such inequities were driven by the inconsistent net flows of water pollutants and value added, wherein there was a net transfer of water pollutants from developed regions to less developed provinces in northeastern and central China; however, value added was generally transferred among developed provinces and from inland less-developed to eastern coastal developed provinces. Thus, economic and environmental benefits were both more common in developed areas. This skewed relationship can be explained by the uneven spatial distribution of key sectors (i.e., agriculture, food and tobacco, construction and hotel and restaurant), that are generally in high water pollution or strongly demand for water polluted intensive products. Thereinto, the primary flowing path is that high water-polluting but low value-added agricultural products produced by inland provinces are processed for foods, ultimately consumed by developed southeastern region. By investigating the environmental inequities that exist and underlying reasons for them in mainland China, our results provide an empirical basis upon which policy makers can promote coordinated and sustainable development among regions in China.(c) 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

机译：广泛的经济增长带来了巨大的水污染物排放，这又为生态系统和人类健康带来了巨大的威胁，强调了经济发展与环境之间协调至关重要的重要性。同时，随着中国商品流量频率的增加，污染物泄漏和经济效益的不均匀分布进一步扩大了地区的预先存在的经济差异，并引发了区域环境不平等。因此，了解中国不公平现状的现状，我们在增加水污染和增值方面计算了三十个省份的区域环境不平等指数（EI），并进一步调查了省份水污染部门的流动和重要路径通过组合多区域输入 - 输出分析和结构路径分析来添加和增值。结果表明，东北部和中部地区的一部分遭受了最严重的环境不公平，而东部和南部沿海省份将于2015年从区域间贸易中受益。这些不公平是由水污染剂和价值的不一致净流动驱动的添加了，其中从发达地区的水污染物净转移到中国东北部和中部的较少省份;但是，增值额通常在发达的省份和内陆转移到东沿海开发的省份。因此，经济和环境效益在发达地区既普遍也是普遍的。这种偏斜的关系可以通过关键部门（即农业，食品和烟草，建筑和酒店和餐厅）的不均匀空间分布来解释，这通常在水污染率高或对水污染密集型产品的强烈需求。其中，主要流动路径是，内陆省份生产的高水污染但低增值农产品被加工为食物，最终由东南地区发育。通过调查在中国大陆存在的环境不公平，我们的结果提供了实证制定者可以在中国地区促进政策制定者的实证基础。（c）2020 elestvier有限公司保留所有权利。

Environmental inequity hidden in skewed water pollutant - value flows via interregional trade in China

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