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ORIGINAL RESEARCH
Understanding the Carbon Footprint of Chinese
Agriculture: An Analysis
of Consumption-Driven Environmental Impact
1
School of Economics, Fuyang Normal University, Fuyang, Anhui, 236041, China
2
School of Economics, Anhui University, Hefei 230601, China
3
Department of Construction Cost, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Tongling University,
Tongling 244061, China
Submission date: 2024-10-11
Final revision date: 2024-11-15
Acceptance date: 2024-12-02
Online publication date: 2025-04-10
Publication date: 2026-01-30
Corresponding author
Pei Xu
Department of Construction Cost, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Tongling University, 1335 Cuihu 4th Road, Tongling City, Anhui Province, 244061, Tongling, China
Department of Construction Cost, School of Architecture and Civil Engineering, Tongling University, 1335 Cuihu 4th Road, Tongling City, Anhui Province, 244061, Tongling, China
Pol. J. Environ. Stud. 2026;35(1):601-616
KEYWORDS
TOPICS
ABSTRACT
Agriculture is the link between sustainable development and human nutrition and health. Increasing
carbon emissions from agriculture threaten ecosystems and human living conditions. However, the level
of agricultural emissions in China and uncertainties in the global supply chain limit the implementation
of more sustainable agricultural policies in China. This paper aims to assess the environmental impacts
of Chinese agriculture from the perspective of consumption carbon emissions. This paper adopts
a multi-regional environmental input-output model, uses the global supply chain to identify major
trade partners and key industries, and estimates China’s domestic agricultural carbon emissions
from the perspective of intermediate product input industries. Then, from the perspective of the
country (region) and intermediate product input industry, we estimate the embodied carbon of China’s
agriculture in international trade. Finally, based on the structural decomposition analysis, we factor out
the changes in carbon emissions embodied in Chinese agriculture from the demand and supply sides.
The findings underscore that energy supply, crop cultivation, livestock farming, machinery
and equipment manufacturing, food production, and electrical equipment manufacturing
are the primary drivers behind the growth in carbon emissions. According to the SDA decomposition
results of the global supply chain, the major partners of China’s agricultural sector, which are also
the top ten carbon emission sources, can be roughly divided into four categories: developed countries
with a long geographical distance from China, BRIC countries, Asian neighbors and Taiwan region.
The results of the factor decomposition analysis reveal that the surge in carbon emissions
is primarily attributable to increased demand and decreased production emission efficiency.
In contrast, advancements in industry-wide technology play a key role in reducing carbon emissions.
Conclusively, this study provides scientific basis and policy recommendations for formulating sustainable agricultural development strategies and protecting the ecological environment, which
is expected to provide an important reference for solving the problem of global climate change.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
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