Search

• We find a positive link between cofinancing and Chinese overseas infrastructure project outcomes. • Cofinanced projects are 3.3–7.1 percentage points less likely to be cancelled or suspended compared to non-cofinanced projects. • Projects cofinanced with recipient partners are more likely to have localized implementation. • Projects cofinanced with international partners have lower carbon emission intensity and lower biodiversity risk. • Our results underscore the importance of a collaborative approach to developing infrastructure projects in the Global South. Cofinancing from government agencies, development banks, and private actors is acknowledged as an important tool to bridge the infrastructure finance gap in developing countries, but relatively little is known about outcomes for cofinanced projects. To fill this void, we explore the role of cofinancing in shaping Chinese lending and overseas development finance for infrastructure projects in terms of implementation outcomes and environmental performance. We examine a sample of 2997 infrastructure projects committed between 2000 and 2017 that were funded by Chinese finance, among which 15 percent are cofinanced. Our study shows that cofinancing correlates with higher infrastructure project completion rates, as cofinanced projects are 3.3–7.1 percentage points less likely to be cancelled or suspended than non-cofinanced ones. We also find that cofinancing with certain partners suggests specific benefits. Cofinancing with partners from the recipient country is associated with more localized implementation, whereas cofinancing with international partners has demonstrated improved environmental performance, with a 2.7 percent lower carbon dioxide emissions intensity and a 0.42 standard deviation decrease in biodiversity risks. The results suggest that cofinancing could be an effective tool to enhance infrastructure project success and achieve greater sustainable performance in Chinese lending and overseas development finance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) is an important cooperative framework that increasingly affects the global economy, trade, and emission patterns. However, most existing studies pay insufficient attention to consumption-based emissions, embodied emissions, and non-CO2 greenhouse gases (GHGs). This study constructs a GHG emissions database to study the trends and variations in production-based, consumption-based, and embodied emissions associated with BRI countries.Outcome: We find that the per capita GHG emissions of BRI countries are lower than the global average but show significant variation within this group. We also find that trade-embodied emissions between BRI countries and China are growing. As a group, BRI countries are anet exporter of GHGs, with a global share of net export emissions of about 20%. In 2011, nearly 80% of GHG export emissions from BRI countries flowed to non-BRI countries, and nearly 15% flowed to China; about 57% of GHG import emissions were from non-BRI countries, and about 38% were from China.Conclusion: Therefore, this study concludes that the BRI should be used to coordinate climate governance to accelerate and strengthen the dissemination and deployment of low-emissions technologies, strategies, and policies within the BRI so as to avoid a carbon-intensive lock-in effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an important conduit of industrial development, industrial parks have contributed significantly to economic development, particularly through the construction of eco-industrial parks (EIPs). With the increase in the number and type of parks, industrial park recycling transformation (IPRT) has been pivotal in developing the circular economy concept at the regional level in China. Compared with EIPs, this study identifies the characteristics of IPRT as green, cyclic, efficient, shared, and sustainable. To effectively explore how to promote IPRT development, the concept of critical material flow with material flow analysis is introduced to trace materials that are critical to high consumption areas with significant environmental impacts. The paper also suggests that cleaner production audits of enterprises can provide a basis for critical material flow analysis. Analysis of critical material flow pathways can facilitate the establishment of reverse logistics, which is important for achieving closed-loop IPRT through imitation of natural ecosystem cycles. In addition, an information system and database management platform are required to support critical material flow analysis in IPRT. Using a case study of the Tianjin Economic-Technological Development Area, the findings reveal that IPRT can be promoted from enterprises at the micro-level to parks at the macro-level based on critical material flow analysis. These results provide a methodological and practical reference for improving the stability of the industrial symbiosis of EIPs and contribute to IPRT research. Moreover, an analytic framework is provided that demonstrates how to promote IPRT in practice. • Identifying the characteristics of IPRT as green, cyclic, efficient, shared, and sustainable. • Consideration of critical material flow provides detailed insight for IPRT. • An analytic framework to promote IPRT at micro-, meso-, and macro-levels is proposed. • The framework is successfully applied to assess water resource management in Tianjin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep decarbonization pathways (DDPs) can be cost-effective for carbon mitigation, but they also have environmental co-benefits and economic impacts that cannot be ignored. Despite many empirical studies on the co-benefits of NDCs at the national or sectoral level, there is lack of integrated assessment on DDPs for their energy, economic, and environmental impact. This is due to the limitations of bottom-up and top-down models when used alone. This paper aims to fill this gap and link the bottom-up MAPLE model with a top-down CGE model to evaluate China's DDPs' comprehensive impacts. First, results show that carbon dioxide emissions can be observed to peak in or before 2030, and non-fossil energy consumption in 2030 is around 27%, which is well above the NDC target of 20%. Second, significant environmental co-benefits can be expected: 7.1 million tons of SO 2 , 3.96 million tons of NO x , and 1.02 million tons of PM 2.5 will be reduced in the DDP scenario compared to the reference scenario. The health co-benefits demonstrated with the model-linking approach is around 678 billion RMB, and we observe that the linked model results are more in accordance with the conclusions of existing studies. Third, after linking, we find the real GDP loss from deep decarbonization is reduced from 0.92% to 0.54% in 2030. If the environmental co-benefits are considered, the GDP loss is further offset by 0.39%. The primary innovation of this study is to give a full picture of DDPs' impact, considering both environmental co-benefits and economic losses. We aim to provide positive evidence that developing countries can achieve targets higher than stated in the NDCs through DDP efforts, which will have clear environmental co-benefits to offset the economic losses. • We perform an integrated analysis of energy systems, the economy, and environmental impacts of China's DDP efforts. • Soft-linking of a bottom-up and a top-down model is a methodological improvement on co-benefit analyses. • China's DDPs have positive environmental co-benefits of around 678 billion RMB in 2030. • Taking environmental co-benefits into account reduces estimated GDP loss from DDP from 0.45% to 0.15%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]