Volume 31: Clean Energy Technologies towards Carbon Neutrality

Energy-Water-Carbon Nexus in Transnational Agricultural Trade Xuanyi Jin, Wenrui Jiang, Delin Fang, Bin Chen

Abstract

Agricultural trade works as an important node in transnational trade. As various resources and emissions inextricably interrelate and interact with each other, exploring the flow becomes rather complicated. This article integrates multi-regional input-output (MRIO) and the nexus intensity to investigate the energy-water-carbon nexus correlated with agricultural products at the transnational level through the entire supply and demand chain. The combination is aimed at bettering bilateral policy formulation and optimal resource allocation in the context of ambiguity in the flow of resources and emissions correlated with agriculture. Consequently, this article takes RCEP as a case study and the results show that:(1) China is consistently the largest producer and demander of energy-water-carbon flows correlated with agricultural products. (2) When it comes to the external dependence on resources correlated with agriculture, the majority of countries in RCEP rely on a higher degree of energy and carbon than water. On average, Singapore shows the highest external dependence while Indonesia displays the lowest. (3) The self-sufficiency, production, and consumption of agricultural trade-related resources and emissions among RCEP countries present different nexus intensities due to discrepant policies and natural endowments.

Keywords RCEP, multi-regional input-output analysis, energy-water-carbon, nexus intensity