Abstract
Most industrialized countries are net importers of carbon
emissions, that is, they release fewer emissions for the production of their
total exported goods and services than the amount generated (by their trading
partners) for producing their total imported goods and services. But what do such carbon trade-deficits imply in terms of global CO2
emissions and the design of carbon trade-policies? Drawing on trade theory,
this Perspective argues that a deeper understanding of these observed net
emission transfers is required to assess how international trade affects global
emissions and proposes a method to disentangle the underlying determinants of
such transfers.