Mercury Benefits of Climate Policy in China: Addressing the Paris Agreement and the Minamata Convention Simultaneously

作者：Kathleen M. Mulvaney, Noelle E. Selin, Amanda Giang, Marilena Muntean, Chiao-Ting Li, Da Zhang, Hélène Angot, Colin P. Thackray, Valerie J. Karplus · 发表于：Environmental Science & Technology · 年份：2020 · DOI：10.1021/acs.est.9b06741 · 被引用次数：42 · 研究领域：Mercury impact and mitigation studies、Air Quality and Health Impacts、Heavy Metal Exposure and Toxicity

National commitments under the Paris Agreement on climate change interact with other global environmental objectives, such as those of the Minamata Convention on Mercury. We assess how mercury emissions and deposition reductions from national climate policy in China under the Paris Agreement could contribute to the country’s commitments under the Minamata Convention. We examine emissions under climate policy scenarios developed using a computable general equilibrium model of China’s economy, end-of-pipe control scenarios that meet China’s commitments under the Minamata Convention, and these policies in combination, and evaluate deposition using a global atmospheric transport model. We find climate policy in China can provide mercury benefits when implemented with Minamata policy, achieving in the year 2030 approximately 5% additional reduction in mercury emissions and deposition in China when climate policy achieves a 5% reduction per year in carbon intensity (CO 2 emissions 9.7 Gt in 2030). This corresponds to 63 Mg additional mercury emissions reductions in 2030 when implemented with Minamata Convention policy, compared to Minamata policy implemented alone. Climate policy provides emissions reductions in sectors not considered under the Minamata Convention, such as residential combustion. This changes the combination of sectors that contribute to emissions reductions.