Balancing Ecosystem Carbon Storage and Economic Development: An Environmental Disparity Perspective in China

Balancing Ecosystem Carbon Storage and Economic Development: An Environmental Disparity Perspective in China | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Research Article Balancing Ecosystem Carbon Storage and Economic Development: An Environmental Disparity Perspective in China Zhihao Kong, Hao Zhang, Ming Liu, Jonathan Li This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9317757/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted 4 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Background Achieving carbon neutrality requires balancing ecosystem carbon storage and economic development to ensure environmental and social equity. However, few national-scale studies have quantified the spatial relationships between ecosystem carbon storage and economic development, or examined how policy interventions could mitigate these disparities. This study addresses this gap by evaluating eco-economic equity dynamics in China under multiple policy scenarios. Results We integrated multi-source datasets to construct a high-resolution, multi-pool account of China’s terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage, then applied a Carbon-improved GDP (C-GDP) metric to assess equity. Results reveal a severe spatial mismatch: western carbon-rich regions hold 74.6% of national carbon stocks but contribute less than 5% of C-GDP, while economically developed eastern regions dominate C-GDP with lower carbon endowments. The monetized carbon value in C-GDP declined to 2.67% by 2020, and the Dagum Gini coefficient remained above 0.51, indicating persistent regional inequality. Policy simulations show that combining regionally differentiated carbon pricing (302.4 CNY/ton) with a six-tier progressive carbon tax most effectively reduces inequality, lowering the Gini coefficient to 0.49. Conclusions Our findings demonstrate that market mechanisms alone cannot resolve spatial eco-economic inequities. Targeted policy measures are essential to align ecological and economic values, ensuring more equitable and sustainable pathways toward carbon neutrality in China. Carbon storage economic development terrestrial ecosystem environmental disparity Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted Reviewers invited by journal 05 May, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 09 Apr, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 09 Apr, 2026 First submitted to journal 04 Apr, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9317757","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Research Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":636697009,"identity":"0f65f556-3a44-45d0-932f-4c016b2d69a2","order_by":0,"name":"Zhihao Kong","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chang'an University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Zhihao","middleName":"","lastName":"Kong","suffix":""},{"id":636697010,"identity":"e845251c-e907-4b85-8241-9c7c54e1a181","order_by":1,"name":"Hao Zhang","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Chang'an University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Hao","middleName":"","lastName":"Zhang","suffix":""},{"id":636697012,"identity":"0577b500-3bc0-4e3b-910f-805e20b95715","order_by":2,"name":"Ming Liu","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAAyElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYDACZiB+YMAgxyDBYMDAwEaslgQDBmMStIBAAgNDYgPRWnTbeQ+/SCg4nN4/u3kDw4eywwz8sxvwazE7zJdmkWBwOHfGnWMFjDPOHWaQuHOAkBYeMwOQlg0SOQbMvG2HGQwkEojTkm4A0vKXSC3GD4BaEsBaGIm1BRjI6YYzbqQVHOw5l84jcYOQlvNnjD98+GMtzz8jeeODH2XWcvwzCGgBAjYJGOsAEPMQVA8EzB+IUTUKRsEoGAUjGAAAYkFBW57ck0sAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"","institution":"Chang'an University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Ming","middleName":"","lastName":"Liu","suffix":""},{"id":636697015,"identity":"9301bc72-af3a-4c8b-810e-cce633e2e21f","order_by":3,"name":"Jonathan Li","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Waterloo","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Jonathan","middleName":"","lastName":"Li","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-04-04 05:39:47","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9317757/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9317757/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":109296253,"identity":"19ed5ac9-3b87-434f-9041-d080db8bb906","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-05-15 08:46:23","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":2660650,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9317757/v1_covered_5f413009-bbb1-4504-95b3-bef63f2bea21.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"Balancing Ecosystem Carbon Storage and Economic Development: An Environmental Disparity Perspective in China","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":false,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"carbon-balance-and-management","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"cbam","sideBox":"Learn more about [Carbon Balance and Management](https://cbmjournal.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"13021","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/13021/3","title":"Carbon Balance and Management","twitterHandle":"@BioMedCentral","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"Carbon storage, economic development, terrestrial ecosystem, environmental disparity","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9317757/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9317757/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"\u003cp\u003eBackground\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAchieving carbon neutrality requires balancing ecosystem carbon storage and economic development to ensure environmental and social equity. However, few national-scale studies have quantified the spatial relationships between ecosystem carbon storage and economic development, or examined how policy interventions could mitigate these disparities. This study addresses this gap by evaluating eco-economic equity dynamics in China under multiple policy scenarios.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eResults\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWe integrated multi-source datasets to construct a high-resolution, multi-pool account of China’s terrestrial ecosystem carbon storage, then applied a Carbon-improved GDP (C-GDP) metric to assess equity. Results reveal a severe spatial mismatch: western carbon-rich regions hold 74.6% of national carbon stocks but contribute less than 5% of C-GDP, while economically developed eastern regions dominate C-GDP with lower carbon endowments. The monetized carbon value in C-GDP declined to 2.67% by 2020, and the Dagum Gini coefficient remained above 0.51, indicating persistent regional inequality. Policy simulations show that combining regionally differentiated carbon pricing (302.4 CNY/ton) with a six-tier progressive carbon tax most effectively reduces inequality, lowering the Gini coefficient to 0.49.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eConclusions\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOur findings demonstrate that market mechanisms alone cannot resolve spatial eco-economic inequities. Targeted policy measures are essential to align ecological and economic values, ensuring more equitable and sustainable pathways toward carbon neutrality in China.\u003c/p\u003e","manuscriptTitle":"Balancing Ecosystem Carbon Storage and Economic Development: An Environmental Disparity Perspective in China","msid":"","msnumber":"","nonDraftVersions":[{"code":1,"date":"2026-05-14 18:46:54","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9317757/v1","editorialEvents":[{"type":"communityComments","content":0},{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"","date":"2026-05-06T00:53:59+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"editorAssigned","content":"","date":"2026-04-09T05:31:33+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"checksComplete","content":"","date":"2026-04-09T05:31:19+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""},{"type":"submitted","content":"Carbon Balance and Management","date":"2026-04-04T05:32:57+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"status":"published","journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"carbon-balance-and-management","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"cbam","sideBox":"Learn more about [Carbon Balance and Management](https://cbmjournal.biomedcentral.com/)","snPcode":"13021","submissionUrl":"https://submission.nature.com/new-submission/13021/3","title":"Carbon Balance and Management","twitterHandle":"@BioMedCentral","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"em","reportingPortfolio":"BMC/SO AJ","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true}}],"origin":"","ownerIdentity":"7ba2ed31-09ea-425d-a02a-857398420b6c","owner":[],"postedDate":"May 14th, 2026","published":true,"recentEditorialEvents":[{"type":"reviewersInvited","content":"31","date":"2026-05-06T00:53:59+00:00","index":"","fulltext":""}],"rejectedJournal":[],"revision":"","amendment":"","status":"under-review","subjectAreas":[],"tags":[],"updatedAt":"2026-05-14T18:46:54+00:00","versionOfRecord":[],"versionCreatedAt":"2026-05-14 18:46:54","video":"","vorDoi":"","vorDoiUrl":"","workflowStages":[]},"version":"v1","identity":"rs-9317757","journalConfig":"researchsquare"},"__N_SSP":true},"page":"/article/[identity]/[[...version]]","query":{"redirect":"/article/rs-9317757","identity":"rs-9317757","version":["v1"]},"buildId":"XKTyCvWXoU3ODBz1xrDgd","isFallback":false,"isExperimentalCompile":false,"dynamicIds":[84888],"gssp":true,"scriptLoader":[]}