Sustained growth in process-related greenhouse gas emissions undermines China's mitigation efforts

Industrial process-related greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions represent a crucial factor in exacerbating climate change due to their hard-to-abate characteristics. Previous studies mainly focused on the production side to construct emission inventories, which makes identifying the drivers of industrial process-related emissions from the consumption and income sides essential. The results show that the per capita consumption and income were main driving factors, while emission intensity and changes in intermediate product structure were the main offsetting factors. From the perspective of major products, the changes in emission intensity was the main offsetting factors for clinker, lime, ammonia, and crude steel. The mitigation of China's industrial process-related GHG emissions is profoundly influenced by macroeconomic conditions, economic structures, and mitigation technologies. A multi-dimensional understanding of economic drivers of industrial process-related GHG emissions can facilitate cost-effective climate mitigation policies in China.