Emissions embodied in exports in developed and developing countries and an empirical study on the emissions embodied in Turkey's trade (2000 and 2009)

In this study, we are looking answers to three questions: 1) What are the carbon emissions embodied in exports for 40 major countries in 2000 and 2009? 2) How did emissions embodied in exports for those countries as well as emissions embodied in imports and exports for Turkey change in the 10-year term? 3) Is it possible to calculate net export values that exclude emission externality for major economies? In other words, we are going to look at one of the externalities, carbon emissions as a cause of climate change in general; then, we will calculate the emissions embodied in exports (EEEs); and last, have a very close look at the emssions embodied in exports and imports of Turkey and end up with calculating net export values for the nations. Our findings are as follows: 1) Climate change has been an undeniable reality of our lives in the last decades; 2) There is a direct relationship between carbon emission levels and industrial/service exports; 3) Emissions embodied in exports transferred mostly from developed nations to developing countries from 2000 to 2009; 4) Developed countries kept producing their strategic goods; however, total created emissions were much lower in those countries except Central Europe; 5) USA left most consumer-goods production to developing countries and decreased level of emissions in exports while her number one trade partner's, China's, emissions were fivefold from 2000 to 2009; 6) Total emissions embodied in exports on planet increased as a result of high production/exports and lower production technologies in the developing countries; 7) Central Europe had a different picture from Southern and Northern Europe with much higher emission levels; 8) Turkey created half of all emissions embodied in alonein Balkan staters in 2009; 9) Turkey's calculated emission cleaning cost was about 1.5 percent of her total exports; 10) Emissions embodied in Imports were higher than emissions embodied in exports for Turkey in 2009, putting the country in an unblamable position; however, she still needs to lower emission levels for environmental protection; 11) Far-Eastern countries have much higher emission cleaning costs as a percentage of the total exports comparing to Western nations. Clearly, there is a close relationship between exploded international trade and erupted emissions in the world; that is the reason why emissions embodied in exports and imports have been studied extensively in the last two decades, particularly because more than 50% of emissions come from trading for some countries. We have calculated emissions embodied in exports for 40 major countries holding 85% of world's GNP in the current study. We used input-output tables from World Input Output Database and implemented SRIO model with developed statistical formulas. Emission embodied in exports (EEE) values were calculated for developed and developing nations as well as several country groups as Northern, Southern and Central Europe, BRIC countries, and Balkan States. Also, the values of China and USA were compared in a different dataset for years 2000 and 2009 to see the developments in emission transfer by trade relations in the ten-year period. Then, the sectors classified as consumer producers and strategic sectors, and the positions of developed and developing countries were judged as well as BRIC countries'. We found out that Western industrialized countries did not quit producing and exporting their strategic goods even those caused emissions while most of consumer goods production was left to China and some other developing economies. Central Europe was not as successful as Northern and Southern Europe in controlling emissions in the ten-year period according to our findings. Russia saved significant emissions while China's emissions were fivefold. India has been another large emission producer while Turkey's emissions in telecommunications, defense industry and transports increased immensely. Last part of the study focuses on Turkey's emissions embodied in her both exports and imports. After studying the developments in emissions embodied in exports and imports from 2000 to 2009, we calculated the 'carbon leakage' for the country and studied each sector from the viewpoint of emissions. We finalized our study by calculating net export values for Turkey and other major countries by calculating and subtracting the dollar value of carbon emissions. Keywords : Balance of emissions embodied in trade, carbon leakage, emissions embodied in exports, emissions embodied in imports, Turkey's emissions.