Decomposition and decoupling analysis of carbon footprint pressure in China's cities

Carbon emission reduction and carbon sequestration are the two key paths to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality. Most of the existing literature focuses on carbon emissions, often ignoring the importance of vegetation carbon sequestration. In this study, a carbon footprint pressure (CFP) index that considers both carbon reduction and carbon sequestration was developed, and the driving factors and decoupling state of China's urban CFP were studied using index decomposition analysis and the Tapio decoupling model. High precision environmental indicators obtained by remote sensing satellites were used to estimate carbon emissions and carbon sequestration data for individual cities. The results show that China's CFP generally had an upward trend from 2000 to 2017, with economic growth and population size being the main drivers for this increase. Additionally, technological progress can effectively alleviate CFP. Only 12.77% of Chinese cities have achieved the decoupling of carbon sequestration from carbon emissions; these are mainly economically underdeveloped cities. Most economically developed cities have been under great pressure to become net zero carbon cities. These cities should pay attention to improving the carbon sequestration capacity of vegetation while reducing carbon emissions.