MRIO Linkages and Switzerland’s CO2 Profile

We examine the importance of linkages between the Swiss economy and other regions (especially Western Europe) for Switzerland’s CO2 profile. Overall, both final production and consumption carbon footprints and intensities are much larger than (about double) the footprint from territorial production, which is the traditional measure used within the framework of the Kyoto Protocol. The carbon footprint of territorial production decreased during 1997–2011, whereas the carbon footprint of consumption remained quite steady and the footprint from final production increased over the same period. All carbon intensities have decreased, however, though the differential between territorial production and final production and consumption has remained the same. These findings highlight the role of emissions embodied in trade flows, particularly with the group of developed members of the European Union, for a small open economy like Switzerland.
They also call for the use of consumption-based criteria, together with criteria based on territorial production and final production, to establish and monitor the Swiss carbon footprint.