Facing the great challenge of climate change, carbon emission security-an important part of ecological security-has become a prominent issue. This study used the 1996-2012 statistics of 30 provinces (except Tibet) of the Chinese mainland to analyze the spatial and temporal differences of energy- related carbon emission security, with the aim to provide some guidance for regional carbon emission reduction strategy and sustainable development. The assessment indicator system of energy consumption- related carbon emission security was based on the pressure- response model, which consists of three main aspects: economic, social, and environmental. Then carbon emission security situation was projected for 2013 to 2020 by using the GM (1,1) method. The results show that: from 1996 to 2012, energy consumption- related carbon emission security of China was at a critical level (0.45-0.65) and showed a downward trend since 2000. The response system played an increasingly more important role in the security state of energy- related carbon emissions; carbon emission security of various provinces is very different, its spatial pattern underwent some changes, and the provinces of low security level shifted southward; most provinces face more pressure while the situation of the response system has improved; disparity of regional CO_2 emission security gradually narrowed, provinces of high pressure and low response reduced substantially; energy intensity, per capita disposable income of urban residents, proportion of coal, per capita carbon emission, proportion of the secondary industry have great influence on carbon emission security in the majority of provinces. The forecasting results show that carbon emission security situation is not optimistic. Most provinces will be in the critical and unsafe state with regard to carbon emission.