ABSTRACT
Sulfur dioxide (SO2) has a significant effect on air quality, climate change and human health. With increasing globalization, developing countries increasingly produce goods for foreign consumption known as emissions embodied in export. We calculate embodied SO2 emissions in global trade and analyze outsourcing of emissions associated with household consumption in the U.S. and the UK to other countries and regions. We find that developed countries, such as the U.S. and the UK, tend to import high pollution-intensity but low value-added goods from less developed countries, such as China and other Asian countries. Thus, the U.S. and the European Union significantly benefit from international trade and they are outsourcing their pollution to less developed countries.
