China Green Low-Carbon City Index: Report on the Performance of 100+ Cities (2010-2015)

Technical Report · Mon May 01 00:00:00 EDT 2017

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1826350· OSTI ID:1826350

Ohshita, Stephanie ^[1]; Zhang, Jingjing ^[2]; Yang, Li ^[3]; Hu, Min ^[4]; Khanna, Nina ^[2]; Fridley, David ^[2]; Liu, Shuang ^[4]; Chen, Lingyan ^[4]; Li, Ang ^[3]; Sun, Miao ^[3]; Zhou, Nan ^[2]

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1. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); University of San Francisco, CA (United States)
2. Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
3. Innovative Green Development Program (iGDP), Beijing (China)
4. Energy Foundation China, Beijing (China)

The main purpose of the new China Green Low-Carbon City Index (CGLCI, or City Index) is to evaluate the status of green and low-carbon development for a large number of Chinese cities. Chinese cities are formulating plans and implementing programs to address national initiatives, especially the national low-carbon pilot program for 36 cities and six provinces. However, there is not yet an established framework for measuring, reporting, or evaluating low-carbon progress across Chinese cities, despite the development of a number of Chinese and international city indicator systems. The new China City Index highlights energy use and carbon emissions of Chinese cities, along with environmental and socio-economic indicators. We selected metrics (indicators) that have data available in China’s statistical system, are commonly used internationally, and reflect Chinese policy goals. (See Table ES-1.) We then benchmarked and ranked Chinese cities in terms of their status and progress, identified potential areas for improvement, and identified top-runners. By “low-carbon” we mean reducing emissions of carbon dioxide (CO₂) and methane (CH₄), with a focus on energy-related CO₂. The term “carbon” is used as short-hand for these GHGs throughout the report. By “green” we recognize multiple environmental parameters related to urbanization and climate change: air quality, water use, solid waste, transport networks, and urban green space. In early 2017, China expanded its low-carbon pilot cities program, adding 45 more cities.

• Research Organization: Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States)
• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
• DOE Contract Number: AC02-05CH11231
• OSTI ID: 1826350
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

54 ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES
96 KNOWLEDGE MANAGEMENT AND PRESERVATION