Search

Understanding the causes of growing carbon transfers between developing countries is likely to be the first step in their mitigation. With this in mind, the current paper uses multi-regional input-output analysis to investigate CO 2 emissions and value-added embodied in China-Brazil trade. We propose the use of value-added exports, rather than gross exports, to more accurately estimate the economic benefits of trade. We find enormous increases in both CO 2 emissions and value-added embodied in exports for China and Brazil between 2000 and 2014. During this period, China's position as a net CO 2 emissions and net value-added exporter vis-à-vis Brazil deepens. Major sources of increasing embodied CO 2 exports for China were the basic materials and electricity industries and for Brazil were the basic materials, agriculture and mining industries. Estimates of net carbon intensities reveal advantages for China in electronics and for Brazil in agriculture and mining. Structural decomposition analysis shows that the changing consumption in China and Brazil as well as the changing structure of intermediate exports from China to Brazil were important sources of increasing embodied CO 2 emissions. This latter finding was possible due to the method proposed in this paper of decomposing the production structure into the domestic, export and import production structures. In line with the key findings, various implications and emission abatement policies are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Based on three case studies in China and Brazil, this paper explores the terms of access for farmers' participation in certified organic agriculture (OA) and investigates the influence of adoption on productivity, nutrient budgets, income and labour use. Small-scale farmers converting to OA require substantial external production-related, marketing and certification support. Access to OA was strongly dependent upon the type of support available to farmers. Organization based on a contract-farming model resulted in OA only being an option available to a narrow group of farmers, whilst OA initiated by a farmer cooperative provided better access. Gross output was significantly higher for oranges, whilst for the other crops gross output was similar. However, organic farmers in China felt that adoption had improved prices, incomes and market access. Farmers' perception of improved incomes is probably due to improved market access coupled with either a large production base, production intensification and production diversification. This study demonstrates that organization of farmers, and the manner in which this is structured, is crucial for external support to have an effect. Thus, OA may be a development path for small farmers if the supporting structures are provided at a small financial interest rate. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The launch and successful operation of Chinese–Brazil Earth resources satellite (CBERS-1) in China has accelerated the application of space technology in China. These applications include agriculture, forestry, water conservation, land resources, city planning, environment protection and natural hazards monitoring and so on. The result of these applications provides a scientific basis for government decision making and has created great economic and social benefits in Chinese national economy construction. In this paper we present examples and provide auxiliary documentation of additional applications of the data from Earth resource monitoring. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Greenhouse gas emissions related to food production in selected countries around the world in 2000, 2007, and 2014 were analyzed in this paper. In recent decades, many studies have suggested that greenhouse gas emissions mostly caused by agricultural production should be reduced. However, a low-carbon agricultural sector often involves a reduction in inputs, which may result in smaller production volumes. Nevertheless, the overarching goal should be to maintain food production at a sufficient level to meet the population's food requirements. Food production is particularly important in the context of the forecasted growth of the world population. In this situation, greenhouse gas emissions per product unit should be regarded as a key indicator that reflects the environmental sustainability level of production processes. Defined as such, environmental sustainability was examined across the entire food production system—referred to as agribusiness. This study calculated the emissions of major greenhouse gases related to food production and compared them to the GDP of agribusiness. The average ratio of the agribusiness carbon footprint to GDP in countries examined was nearly 2 kg of CO 2 equivalent/USD in 2000. This value kept decreasing during the study period, reaching 1.21 in 2014. A decrease in the ratio was recorded despite an increase in agribusiness greenhouse gas emissions, which validated the research hypothesis that an increase in greenhouse gas emissions from agribusiness does not necessarily reflect a decline in the environmental performance of agribusiness production. This is especially true for China and Brazil, whose greenhouse gas emissions related to food production increased considerably in the years examined in this study along with a clear decline in emission levels per unit of agribusiness GDP. This study is innovative, because the literature does not provide any similar calculations for the food production subsystem, especially regarding emission levels per production unit. This approach required the authors to integrate the calculation methods used in agribusiness production with those applicable to agribusiness greenhouse gas emissions. Thus, this study relied on consistent methods developed by the authors to calculate these values. The research adds to existing literature by calculating the carbon footprint for the entire food production system, and it argues that better environmental performance of agribusiness production can be achieved despite higher greenhouse gas emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]