Use of WIOD to analyse the impact of trade: employment generation vs. emissions responsibilities

Following the debate on the implications of international trade for global climate policy, this paper assess the economic benefits gained by exporting countries in products and services for exports against the emissions generated in their production. In 2008, 24% of global GHG emissions and 20% of the employment around the world were linked to international trade. China exported 30% of emissions and hosted 37.5% of the jobs generated by trade worldwide. The European Union and the United States of America were the destination of 25% and 18.4% of the GHG emissions embedded in trade. The imports of these two regions contributed to the creation of 45% of the employment generated by international trade. This paper proposes the idea of including trade issues in international negotiations, taking into account not only the environmental burden generated by developed countries when displacing emissions to developing countries through their imports, but also the economic benefits of developing countries when releasing the emissions to produce goods delivered to developed countries. By analysing these opposing aspects, we aim to show how global emissions could be reduced effectively and with lower costs.