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Han et al. Carbon Footprints 2025, 4, 25 Carbon Footprints
DOI: 10.20517/cf.2025.18

Original Article Open Access

Minimizing inequality between methane emissions

and economic variations in the Belt and Road
countries

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1,2
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Mengyao Han , Zidi Sun , Yuan Zhao , Bo Zhang 4
1
Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100101, China.
2
School of Geography and Information Engineering, China University of Geosciences, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, China.
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School of Management, China University of Mining & Technology (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China.
4
School of Management, China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy, Xiamen University, Xiamen 361005, Fujian, China.
Correspondence to: Dr. Bo Zhang, School of Management, China Institute for Studies in Energy Policy, Xiamen University,
Xiamen 361005, Fujian, China. E-mail: zhangbo@xmu.edu.cn
How to cite this article: Han, M.; Sun, Z.; Zhao, Y.; Zhang, B. Minimizing inequality between methane emissions and economic
variations in the Belt and Road countries. Carbon Footprints 2025, 4, 25. https://dx.doi.org/10.20517/cf.2025.18
Received: 22 Apr 2025 First Decision: 19 Jun 2025 Revised: 25 Jul 2025 Accepted: 11 Sep 2025 Published: 26 Sep 2025

Academic Editor: Hancheng Dai Copy Editor: Fangling Lan Production Editor: Fangling Lan

Abstract
The steady increase in global methane (CH ) emissions has recently drawn international attention. However, CH
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emissions in countries along the Belt and Road (B&R) remain underexamined. This study applies a multi-regional
input-output analysis to quantify production-based emissions (PBEs) and consumption-based emissions (CBEs)
across China and 138 countries and economies within the B&R region. It further employs the Lorenz curve and Gini
coefficient to assess inequality in CH emissions across income groups in these countries and examines the degree
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of decoupling between CH emissions and economic variations. CH emissions from B&R countries contributed
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significantly to the global total, with major contributions from energy- and resource-intensive sectors such as
agriculture, petroleum, chemical and non-metallic mineral products, construction, financial intermediation, and
commercial activities. Across the region, CBEs were consistently lower than PBEs but showed a stronger upward
trend. Significant inequality in CH emissions was observed, particularly in PBEs within high-income (H-H)
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countries and CBEs within low-income (L-L) countries. Over time, the gap between PBEs and CBEs in H-H
countries narrowed, suggesting positive changes in economic structures or consumption patterns. By analyzing the
spatial and temporal evolution of CH emissions, this study provides insights and policy recommendations for
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reducing CH emission inequality and developing effective mitigation strategies within the B&R region.
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Keywords: Belt and Road initiative, methane emissions, multi-regional input-output modeling, decoupling
decomposition

© The Author(s) 2025. Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0
International License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, sharing,
adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, for any purpose, even commercially, as
long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and
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