Ecological burden shifting associated with land transfer embodied in global trade: An ecological network analysis

Land transfers embodied in global trade have induced shifting of ecological burdens on a global scale. To focus on the process of the trade-induced ecological burden shifts, the hybrid MRIO and ENA approaches to track the trade-embodied ecological footprint flows among economies, and draw the following conclusions were incorporated. First, intermediate trade is the main driver that causes a massive portion of ecological burden shifting between economies. Second, trade-induced ecological burdens are frequently transferred through a few vital pathways between economies, especially between advanced economies and from EMDEs to advanced economies. Third, the three pivotal economies of the EU, China and the United States play an important role in the process of shifting the global ecological burden. Fourth, the entire ecological network is dominated by exploitative relationships that allow the EU and the United States to receive a net share of trade-embodied land use and to be considered as beneficiaries of trade-induced ecological burden shifting, in contrast to China, which is a contributor to trade-induced ecological burden shifting by transferring a net share of trade-embodied land use. Based on these conclusions, scientific basis and relevant recommendations were provided for policy formulation to mitigate ecological burden shifts among economies.