Carbon Content of Japan-US Trade

The analysis of 1995 trade data indicates that Japan-US trade resulted in a global savings of 7.9 million tons of CO2-equivalent, reducing US industrial emissions by 14.6 million tons while increasing Japan's by 6.7 million tons. These figures represent less than one percent of each country's total emissions, whereas trade with the rest of the world had a larger impact of roughly four percent. The study finds a strong correlation in sectoral carbon intensity between the two nations and suggests that US industry could reduce emissions by over half by matching Japan's environmental performance.

• In 1995, trade between Japan and the US led to a global reduction of 7.9 million tons of CO2-equivalent, specifically decreasing US industrial emissions by 14.6 million tons and increasing emissions in Japan by 6.7 million tons.
• The emissions impact of Japan-US trade is relatively small, accounting for less than one percent of each country's total emissions, compared to trade with the rest of the world which affected roughly four percent of emissions.
• There is a strong correlation between the sectoral patterns of carbon intensity in Japan and the US, and higher carbon intensity is linked to a small but significantly positive effect on net exports.
• The author suggests that US industry has the potential to reduce its carbon emissions by more than 50% if it adopts the environmental performance levels of Japanese industry.

APA

Stockholm Environment Institute (2007). Carbon Content of Japan-US Trade. https://www.sei.org/publications/carbon-content-japan-us-trade/

Chicago

Stockholm Environment Institute. Carbon Content of Japan-US Trade. 2007. https://www.sei.org/publications/carbon-content-japan-us-trade/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Stockholm Environment Institute |title=Carbon Content of Japan-US Trade |date=26 April 2007 |url=https://www.sei.org/publications/carbon-content-japan-us-trade/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{stockholmenvironmentinstitute2007carbon, author = {{Stockholm Environment Institute}}, title = {{Carbon Content of Japan-US Trade}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2007}, month = apr, url = {https://www.sei.org/publications/carbon-content-japan-us-trade/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }