Abstract
Climate change and environmental policies are widely discussed. Much less is known about emissions embodied in goods traded internationally and the distinction between emission producers and consumers.
In this paper, we focus on carbon dioxide emissions embodied in international trade in Central European countries. Due to industrial restructuring and environmental legislation the air pollution improved significantly in Central European countries since the transition.
On the other hand, economic growth has been accompanied by a rise in consumerism. Despite the increasing role of exports, Visegrad countries have become net importers of carbon dioxide emissions between 1995 and 2008.
This seems to be a standard trajectory of a transition toward a developed and consumption oriented economy. We also map the global patterns of carbon dioxide emissions embodied in manufacturing exports using network analysis and constructing product space.
This analysis confirms that industrial restructuring played important role in lowering the production of carbon dioxide emissions in the Visegrad countries.