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Sustainability
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Carbon Footprints: Consumption and Environmental Sustainability
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Carbon Footprints: Consumption and Environmental Sustainability

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Resources and Sustainable Utilization".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 18 October 2025 | Viewed by 4368

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Li Chai

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
College of Economics and Management, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: environmental footprint; sustainability
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Aoyu Hou

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: environmental economics; sustainability
Dr. Pingping Wang

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
International College Beijing, China Agricultural University, Beijing, China
Interests: agricultural economics; sustainability

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

The growing threat of climate change poses severe challenges to global society, economies, and ecosystems, necessitating urgent climate action and carbon reduction measures. In response to these challenges, countries are actively exploring pathways for transitioning to a low-carbon economy, which is essential in achieving climate goals and promoting sustainable development. Quantifying and monitoring carbon emissions has become a vital step in this process, offering critical data to support effective policymaking and actions.

The carbon footprint serves as a robust metric for assessing the carbon emissions generated by various economic activities, such as consumption, investment, and trade. This indicator can be applied at multiple levels, including to individuals, businesses, regions, and nations, to identify emission sources and mitigation opportunities. Against this backdrop, for this Special Issue, we invite the submission of interdisciplinary research contributions that explore the theoretical and practical dimensions of carbon footprints. We encourage scholars to present innovative ideas and solutions, providing scientific insights that can aid in fostering sustainable consumption and advancing global climate governance.

This Special Issue will showcase both original research articles and reviews, and research works using interdisciplinary approaches are especially welcome.

Dr. Li Chai
Dr. Aoyu Hou
Dr. Pingping Wang
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • carbon footprint
  • sustainable consumption
  • carbon emissions
  • climate action
  • global climate governance
  • low-carbon economy

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

20 pages, 2209 KiB  
Article
Towards Consumption-Based Carbon Inequality Metrics: Socioeconomic and Demographic Insights from Chinese Households
by Mo Li, Thomas Wiedmann and Tianfang Shen
Sustainability 2025, 17(11), 4916; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17114916 - 27 May 2025
Viewed by 142
Abstract
The choice of carbon inequality metrics can significantly influence demand-side mitigation policies and their equity outcomes. We propose integrated carbon inequality metrics, including juxtaposing carbon inequality with economic inequality, disparity ratios across income and age groups, and structural income–urbanization inequality patterns. We then [...] Read more.
The choice of carbon inequality metrics can significantly influence demand-side mitigation policies and their equity outcomes. We propose integrated carbon inequality metrics, including juxtaposing carbon inequality with economic inequality, disparity ratios across income and age groups, and structural income–urbanization inequality patterns. We then apply these new metrics and use the household expenditure survey data from China Family Panel Studies as a case study to examine household consumption-based carbon emissions in China. We assess the extent to which household consumption patterns, household expenditure, age, and urbanization contribute to the gap in per-capita household carbon footprints (CF) across income groups. We find that in relative terms, the top 20% income group accounts for 38% of total emissions, whereas the bottom 20% emit about 8% in China. Per-capita CFs vary slightly widely in their inequality than expenditure. The CF disparity ratios of all eight consumption categories across provinces concentrate around 4.5. CF disparity ratios of households with elderly members range from 1 to 3 and decrease with increasing household size. Rural CF-Gini exhibit a slightly wider range (0.15 to 0.52) than urban CF-Gini (0.16 to 0.42). Per capita CF of urban inhabitants was substantially larger than that of the rural ones, with 8.83 tCO2 per capita in urban regions vs. 2.68 tCO2 in rural regions. This study provides a nuanced understanding of within-country disparities to inform equitable demand-side mitigation solutions. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Footprints: Consumption and Environmental Sustainability)
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20 pages, 5438 KiB  
Article
Comparative Analysis of Carbon Intensity Indicators Applicable to Harbor Tugboats
by Janmanuel Jaramillo, Joaquín Gutiérrez and Yunesky Masip Macia
Sustainability 2025, 17(4), 1706; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17041706 - 18 Feb 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 520
Abstract
This study compares four carbon intensity indicators applicable to harbor tugboats to identify the most representative greenhouse gas emissions management. Using operational data from SAAM Towage’s fleet, the indicators evaluated traveled distance, operating time, energy consumption, and average engine load demand. Statistical analyses [...] Read more.
This study compares four carbon intensity indicators applicable to harbor tugboats to identify the most representative greenhouse gas emissions management. Using operational data from SAAM Towage’s fleet, the indicators evaluated traveled distance, operating time, energy consumption, and average engine load demand. Statistical analyses revealed that the energy consumption-based indicator exhibited lower variability and greater capacity to reflect the operational particularities of tugboats. In contrast, indicators based on average load presented high dispersion, limiting their applicability. These conclusions highlight the importance of considering vessel-specific characteristics when selecting indicators. This work provides tools to improve environmental monitoring and facilitates the implementation of sustainability strategies aligned with the maritime industry’s emission reduction objectives. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Footprints: Consumption and Environmental Sustainability)
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20 pages, 243 KiB  
Article
Customer Environmental Performance and Supplier Green Innovation: A Sustainable Supply Chain Perspective
by Mingnan Yang, Aoyu Hou, Pingping Wang and Li Chai
Sustainability 2025, 17(3), 1248; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17031248 - 4 Feb 2025
Viewed by 1220
Abstract
With the growing emphasis on sustainable development, the impact of customer environmental performance on innovation activities has attracted more attention. Using a dataset of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2022, this study empirically investigates the relationship between customer environmental performance and [...] Read more.
With the growing emphasis on sustainable development, the impact of customer environmental performance on innovation activities has attracted more attention. Using a dataset of Chinese A-share listed companies from 2009 to 2022, this study empirically investigates the relationship between customer environmental performance and supplier green innovation. The results show that customer environmental performance has a significant positive effect on supplier green innovation. Mechanism analysis reveals that customer environmental performance promotes supplier green innovation through four pathways: supply chain transmission, market investment expectations, institutional policies, and financial constraints. The impact of customer environmental performance on supplier green innovation is more pronounced when the customer enterprise is state-owned, the supplier enterprise is state-owned, or the supplier enterprise holds ISO14001 certification. This study contributes to the literature on supply chain sustainability and provides valuable insights for enterprises on enhancing competitiveness and promoting sustainable supply chain transformation through improved environmental performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Footprints: Consumption and Environmental Sustainability)
16 pages, 2285 KiB  
Article
Viticulture Carbon Footprint in Desert Areas of the Global South: A Cabernet Sauvignon Case of Ningxia, China
by Li Li, Yang Liu, Liqin Zhang, Jianjun Li, Tingning Wang and Qizheng Han
Sustainability 2025, 17(1), 180; https://doi.org/10.3390/su17010180 - 29 Dec 2024
Viewed by 1309
Abstract
Background: The wine industry in arid area serves as a crucial livelihood source at the frontiers of anti-desertification and anti-poverty. By making use of a carbon footprint (CF) management system, formerly untapped climate values can be explored, embedded, and cherished to connect rural [...] Read more.
Background: The wine industry in arid area serves as a crucial livelihood source at the frontiers of anti-desertification and anti-poverty. By making use of a carbon footprint (CF) management system, formerly untapped climate values can be explored, embedded, and cherished to connect rural communities with the global goals of sustainable development. However, the current standards of CF management mainly represent the traditional wine grape growing areas of Europe, Oceania, and North America. Limited study of the arid areas in lower-income regions exists, which offers a kind of potential development knowledge regarding creating climate-related livelihoods. Methods: This paper attempts to construct a cradle-to-gate CF Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) framework based on the prominent emission factors in three GHG emission phases (raw material input, planting management, and transportation) of a wine grape variety, Cabernet Sauvignon (chi xia zhu), planted at the Eastern Foothills of the Helan Mountains in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region of China. Results: It is found that viticulture processes (instead of wine-making, bottling, or distribution) account for a larger proportion of GHG emissions in Ningxia. Due to the large amount of irrigation electricity usage, the less precipitation wine producers have, the larger CF they produce. By using organic fertilizer, the CF of Ningxia Cabernet Sauvignon, being 0.3403 kgCO2e/kg, is not only lower than that of the drier areas in Gansu Province (1.59–5.7 kgCO2e/kg) of Western China, but it is even lower than that of the Israel Negev Region (0.342 kgCO2e/kg) that experiences more rainfall. Conclusions: The measurement of CF also plays a role in understanding low-carbon experience sharing. As the largest wine grape production area in China, CF analysis of the Ningxia region and its commercial value realization might practically fill in the knowledge gap for desert areas in developing countries. It is inspiring to know that by applying green agricultural technologies, the viticulture CF can be effectively reduced. For the potential exchanges in global carbon markets or trading regulations under the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM), positive variations in CF and soil organic carbon (SOC) storage volume need to be considered within financial institutional design to lead to more participation toward SDGs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Carbon Footprints: Consumption and Environmental Sustainability)
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