西部地区低碳竞争力评价

低碳竞争力是一个国家或地区所反映出来的在低碳效率、低碳环境、低碳科技等方面的综合水平的一种竞争优势或能力.中国西部地区正面临着跨越式发展和可持续发展两大任务,面对新一轮西部大开发的战略机遇,在全球向低碳转型背景下西部地区必须转变发展方式,走低碳发展路径,充分发挥后发优势以提升其低碳竞争力,才能实现资源节约型、环境友好型以及气候安全型社会建设目标.在构建低碳竞争力评价指标体系基础上,采用PCA、熵值法和聚类分析法对西部12个省(区,市)低碳竞争力进行评价.研究结果表明:(1)西部地区的低碳经济发展水平可以划分为3个层次:重庆、陕西、广西、四川属于相对低碳地区;云南、新疆、宁夏、贵州、内蒙、西藏属于中碳地区;青海、甘肃属于相对高碳地区.(2)重庆、陕西、云南等作为国家发改委批准的首批全国低碳试点省市,其低碳竞争力排位明显比较靠前,说明低碳试点工作成效显著.(3)单位GDP综合能耗低的省区,综合排名也比较高,因而降低单位GDP综合能耗是提升低碳竞争力的必然选择.(4)低碳竞争力的影响因素复杂.尤其是第一主成分中的X1(单位GDP综合能耗)、X8(森林覆盖率)载荷系数相对较大,进一步说明要实现低碳发展,除了通过节能减排以减少“碳源”外,还要大力增加“碳汇”.(5)低碳竞争力是一个相对的概念,西部地区应发挥协同竞争优势,加强在低碳领域的合作与交流,实现在竞争中合作、在合作中发展.

Evaluation of low-carbon competitiveness in Western China

Low-carbon competitiveness reflects a country or region's level of competitive advantage or ability in low-carbon efficiency, low-carbon environment, and low-carbon technology. Regions in western China are currently engaged in two major undertakings: leapfrog development and sustainable development. Under a background of western development and global transformation, western China must transform its mode of development and switch to a low-carbon development path. In addition, it must make full use of its backwardness advantage to enhance its low-carbon competitiveness to become a society characterized as resource saving, environmentally friendly, and climate-safe. By building an evaluation system for low-carbon competitiveness, this article adopts a principal component analysis (PCA) model, entropy method, and clustering analysis method to analyze low-carbon competitiveness in China's western regions. The results show the following. (1) Western China's low-carbon economy can be divided into three levels: Chongqing, Shanxi, Guangxi, and Sichuan belong to a relatively low-carbon region; Yunnan, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Guizhou, Inner Mongolia, and Tibet represent a mid-carbon area; and Qinghai and Gansu can be classified as a relatively high-carbon area. (2) The top five areas in terms of low-carbon competitiveness are Chongqing, Shanxi, Guangxi, Sichuan, and Yunnan; the evaluation results are essentially in accord with the areas' actual level of low-carbon development. As the first batch of pilot provinces approved by the National Development and Reform Commission, Chongqing, Shaanxi, and Yunnan rank high, further proving the effectiveness of the pilot programs. At present, China's low-carbon economy development via the demonstration pilot is being gradually pushed forward, from area to area and stage by stage. To obtain state support, western regions should seek further national low-carbon demonstration pilot projects. (3) The results show that energy consumption per unit of GDP is lower and the ranking of low-carbon competitiveness is higher. Thus, it is clear that energy consumption per unit of GDP must be reduced to enhance low-carbon competitiveness. The current industrial structure in western China, characterized as being highly dependent on resources and energy, is unacceptable; the western region has become an industrial transfer base of high-energy consumption for China's central and eastern regions. Therefore, western regions should follow the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" requirements to reduce energy consumption per unit of GDP, plan an appropriate development direction, and make efforts to successfully save energy and reduce emissions in industrial, construction and transportation industries, among others. In addition, Xinjiang, Ningxia, Inner Mongolia, and Gansu, as the key national energy bases in the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan", should fully explore and utilize the local energy and resource advantages, vigorously develop strategic emerging industries, and rebuild a low-carbon industrial system. (4) Factors that influence low-carbon competitiveness are very complex, especially X1 (energy consumption per unit of GDP) and X8 (forest coverage rate), which further illustrates that to realize low-carbon development, in addition to energy saving and emission reduction, regions need to reduce "carbon" and "to increase carbon sink". (5) As low-carbon competitiveness is a relative concept, western regions should strengthen their exchanges and cooperation in the field of low-carbon economy development and use their synergy competitive advantages to achieve competition in cooperation and cooperation in development.