Agribusiness from selected countries: sustainability analysis between GDP and CO₂ emissions

Abstract

The aim of this study was to measure and compare the agribusiness production chain in 64 countries and the rest of the world considering the variables income (Gross Domestic Product - GDP) and carbon dioxide emissions from burning fossil fuels between 2005 and 2015 with a methodology based on the input-output matrix. The agribusiness GDP in 2005 was about 6 trillion dollars in current values and participated with 13.6% of the world GDP and increased to 11 trillion dollars in 2015 (15.3%). Agribusiness generated close to two billion tons of carbon dioxide in 2005 with a share of 8.5% in total emissions and emissions increased by about 166 million tons between 2005 and 2015, however, the share in the total emissions decreased to 7.6%. The largest global polluters (manufacturing sector and agribusiness) in the year 2015 were China, the United States, India and Russia, respectively. The results of the sustainability indicator carbon dioxide emissions by burning fossil fuels per unit of income indicated that in most countries agribusiness was able to increase production with lower emissions per unit of income compared to the average economy.

Keywords:
air pollution; carbon dioxide; environment; input-output