CO₂ emissions caused by household consumption have become one of the main sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Studying household CO₂ emissions (HCEs) is of great significance to energy conservation and emissions reduction. In this study, we quantitatively analyzed the direct and indirect CO₂ emissions by urban and rural households in Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing. The results show that urban total HCEs are larger than rural total HCEs for the four megacities. Urban total per capita household CO₂ emissions (PHCEs) are larger than rural total PHCEs in Beijing, Tianjin, and Chongqing, while rural total PHCEs in Shanghai are larger than urban total PHCEs. Electricity and hot water production and supply was the largest contributor of indirect HCEs for both rural and urban households. Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing outsourced a large amount of indirect CO₂ emissions to their neighboring provinces.

The economic circle around Beijing is a very important area that supports the development of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region in China. The economic growths of the economic circle around Beijing are deeply affected by the regional economic disparity. Besides the resources and environment problems, economic factors may be more prominent of regional sustainability. The objective of this paper is: (1) To find out what caused the regional economic disparity of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region; and (2) to assess the economic sustainable development status of the cities around Beijing, and give suggestions to narrow the regional disparity from the economic growth view. We used an assessment method based on the economic sustainable index system—the order relation method named G1 method, revised by standard deviation. The results showed that the fundamental reason for the differences lies in the disparity in production efficiency. The disparity in the regional economy increases the flow of talent to Beijing and Tianjin, so the labor productivity of Hebei Province will not improve. Thus, the economic gap among Hebei, Beijing, and Tianjin will continue to grow. This negative feedback will further exacerbate the economic growth problem. In terms of narrowing regional disparity, some implications are highlighted. Rational industrial structure, a high level of development in the manufacturing industry, and a high proportion of strategic emerging industries are important for the cities around Beijing to achieve high-level industry transfer, and the technological progress needed to promote economic growth.

Haze has become an urgent problem for China’s highly populated cities. Regional collaboration is an effective method for controlling air pollution. Because air pollution diffuses freely, it is necessary to distribute the responsibility for pollution with a common and differentiated rule. Based on a multiregional input-output model, this article calculated the PM_2.5 emissions embodied in provincial trade (EEPT) of China’s 30 provinces in 2007 and 2010. The results show that the PM_2.5 EEPT accounts for almost one-third of the production-based PM_2.5 emissions of China. The economic crisis lowered the EEPT, while the ratio between the EEPT and production-based PM_2.5 emissions has increased. The EEPT values of the eastern provinces are mainly due to the EEPT embodied in final consumption, while the EEPT values of the central, northeastern, and the western provinces are due to the EEPT embodied in the intermediate input. We also analyzed different compositions of EEPT, such as fixed capital formation and consumption. The emissions embodied in provincial imports are mainly due to fixed capital formation. Due to the policies of the West Development, the Rising of Central China, and Promoting the Old Industrial Base in the Northeast, the central government increased the investment to these areas. The ratios of the EEPT embodied in the fixed capital formation to the total EEPT of the central (0.64), northeastern (0.69), and the western provinces (0.65) are higher than that of the eastern provinces (0.62). This indicates that the government need to establish different policies to control the effects of EEPT. In addition to the challenges of regional collaboration, environmental damage and the EEPT should be taken into account. The importers in the collaboration should consider providing compensation to the exporters in the collaboration.

This research aims to lay out a framework to quantify the impacts of mining booms on the macro-economy in Mongolia, a country that is increasingly dependent upon its mining sector. The study uses a dynamic computable general equilibrium (CGE) model to examine the long-term effects on the economy with three sets of scenarios: (1) a moderate boom in the productivity of agriculture, manufacturing, coal mining and coal service sectors; (2) a drop in the world price of coal and metal ores; and (3) the combination of these two scenarios. We assume that these shocks are seismic, and the findings are important for policymakers to implement policy to deal with the negative impact of mining booms. Our study result shows that reinvestment in the agriculture and manufacturing sectors could help to mitigate the resource curse, and suggests that suitable macroeconomic management and prudent administration of the mining sector’s windfall income are important.