Interregional eco-compensation: towards equity between emitting and greening in China

Abstract Background Carbon emissions are the primary driver of climate change. As the world’s largest carbon emitter, China faces huge challenges in reducing emissions. To address this, greening, defined as the expansion and enhancement of vegetation, has become a critical strategy for increasing carbon sequestration. However, the interregional inequity of “emitters generate income while greeners incur costs” creates a disincentive for both emission reduction and greening efforts. In this study, we evaluated the spatial and temporal dynamics of CO 2 emissions and vegetation greening across China from 2001 to 2021. Building on these findings, we developed and compared two eco-compensation plans—stock-based and change-based—to mitigate interregional inequities between emitting and greening. Results From 2001 to 2021, China experienced a 210.23% increase in CO 2 emissions according to EDGAR data, with high-emission and rapid-growth regions concentrated in East China. The disparity in CO 2 emissions among provinces widened, with the Gini coefficient increasing from 0.37 to 0.39. In contrast to the CO 2 emissions, MODIS data showed a 19.13% increase in vegetation net primary productivity (NPP), with high NPP in South China and significant NPP growth in Central and Western China. The disparity in vegetation NPP among provinces narrowed, with the Gini coefficient decreasing from 0.47 to 0.45. Regarding eco-compensation, stock-based compensation exhibited higher stability than change-based compensation, but both plans identified similar payers and recipients, with economically developed eastern provinces as the primary payers and less-developed western provinces as the largest recipients. Conclusions This study highlights the importance of eco-compensation mechanisms in addressing interregional inequities in carbon emissions and greening efforts across China. By taxing emitters and subsidizing greeners, eco-compensation could accelerate progress toward climate goals, promoting interregional equity and sustainable development.