Carbon emission data not the whole story

The release of figures this week that show China's carbon emissions have outstripped those of the European Union and the United States combined has caught the global eye, but it may also be misleading.

The Global Carbon Project (GCP) data is meaningful in the way that it sounds alarms for China to confront its mountainous burden and continue the arduous task of cutting emissions and fighting climate change.

However, it would be hypocritical to use this data to impose more pressure and responsibilities on China, as it is a distorted reflection of the 'who' behind the carbon figures.

At present, everybody looks to carbon emissions as a key in assessing a country's responsibility in fighting climate change. It may be high time to revisit the old rules.

Carbon emissions data does not always tell the whole story. It is important to see which countries have emitted the most carbon dioxide, but it should be at least equally important to see which countries have consumed the most emissions.

Take China as an example. A significant proportion of China's carbon emissions were driven by demand from consumers in Europe and the U.S., Professor Corinne Le Quere from the University of East Anglia, who is involved with the Project, told media.

In China, about 20 percent of emissions are for producing clothes, furniture and solar panels shipped to Europe and America, she said.

Some media singled out another set of GCP data showing that China's per capita emissions had overtaken those of the EU for the first time. Looking closer at this headline-making data, you may find the EU also consumes many goods made in countries such as China.

When accounting for these "consumption" emissions, EU emissions have only stabilized, according to the GCP. "If you look at the emissions in Europe with that perspective, they would be 30 percent higher if we accounted for those goods that are produced elsewhere," Professor Corinne Le Quere said.

The new data should not be used as an argument that China must shoulder a bigger burden in cutting emissions, rather, it should come as a reminder that the world might need to change the way it calculates the emissions.

Under today's calculation system, not only can the EU and U.S. "transfer" emissions to other countries using carbon trading, but they can also operate as high-carbon countries at the price of other developing countries.

Take iPhone 6 as an example. In the first three days after its release, 10 million sets were sold, but not one in China. However, recorded figures show almost all the emissions from making the phone lies with China.

It is indisputable that China, a big developing country with the world's largest population, is one of world's major carbon polluters. But we should not forget that a huge amount of emissions start in the factories of the "world's workshop" and are consumed by somebody else.