## 2 Comparison of BRI with Other Global and Regional Infrastructure Initiatives
### Environmental Sustainability
The disparity in impact between developed and developing countries may arise from the fact that developed nations are less likely to participate in the BRI, potentially missing out on the additional green benefits it offers through increased technical efficiency in industrial structures and technological innovation in the harnessing of renewable energy. Moreover, developing nations often start with lower baselines in terms of green energy infrastructure and tend to have higher levels of energy consumption and pollution. As a result, the potential for significant environmental improvements in developing countries may be greater, leading to more pronounced returns to scale in terms of environmental quality improvements compared to developed nations. An analysis of 65 BRI countries revealed a 34.5% reduction in energy consumption and a 36.4% decrease in carbon emissions, attributed to technology transfer regarding the reduction in fossil fuel usage and the optimisation of energy structures ([PERSON] et al., 2021). Moreover, the BRI has significantly promoted the intra-industry trade of Environmental Goods (EGs), especially in renewable energy technologies and pollution-monitoring apparatus. The environmental benefits of the BRI were particularly pronounced for developing participants--greater for vertical intra-industry trade (products with similar attributes but different qualities) than horizontal intra-industry trade (products with different attributes but similar qualities) ([PERSON] et al., 2024). Based on two counterfactual scenarios, [PERSON] et al. (2024) found that shifting production from local producers to Chinese multinational enterprises could abate 29.06 million tonnes of carbon emissions, and by relocating production to countries with cleaner energy structures rather than importing from China, global emissions could be reduced by 165 million tonnes. Although the construction of six major economic corridors improves trade facilitation by shortening trade time and reducing trade costs, which in turn promotes economic growth in BRI member countries, a higher level of emissions may ensue. However, [PERSON] et al. (2024) found that the magnitude and direction of the environmental effect vary substantially across economic corridors. For example, although five of the economic corridors are associated with an increase in total greenhouse emissions, with the China-Indochina Peninsula Economic Corridor (CICPEC) having the largest increase and the New Eurasian Land Bridge (ELB) having the smallest increase, the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) is associated with a decrease in total greenhouse emissions. Emission elasticity, i.e., the percentage change in emissions resulting from a 1% increase in GDP, is greater than 1 for CO2 and N2O within the China-Mongolia-Russia Economic Corridor (CMREC), CICPEC, and the China-Central Asia-West Asia Economic Corridor (CCWAEC), indicating that emissions in these regions are rising faster than economic output. However, in most BRI member countries, the rate of economic growth exceeds the rate of emissions growth, i.e., emission elasticity is less than 1. Moreover, four countries that are located in the ELB--primarily developed economies--have managed to achieve both an increase in GDP and a reduction in emissions under trade facilitation. Although the decoupling of absolute emissions from economic growth remains limited to developed countries, BRI trade facilitation generally leads to improved emission intensity (emissions produced per unit of GDP) across most member countries, which constitutes a notable environmental achievement. In sum, while some BRI projects have triggered NIMBY-type resistance due to environmental degradation or insufficient consultation, evidence also shows that BRI participation has, in certain contexts, contributed to measurable environmental improvements --particularly in developing countries through the deployment of green infrastructure under the Green Silk Road.