Does the Effort Meet the Challenge in Promoting Low-Carbon City?—A Perspective of Global Practice

Yingli Lou, Liyin Shen, Zhenhua Huang, Ya Wu, Heng Li and Guijun Li
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Yingli Lou: School of Construction Management and Real Estate, International Research Center for Sustainable Built Environment, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Liyin Shen: School of Construction Management and Real Estate, International Research Center for Sustainable Built Environment, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Zhenhua Huang: School of Construction Management and Real Estate, International Research Center for Sustainable Built Environment, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Ya Wu: School of Construction Management and Real Estate, International Research Center for Sustainable Built Environment, Chongqing University, Chongqing 400045, China
Heng Li: Department of Building and Real Estate, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong 999077, China
Guijun Li: Center of International Cooperation Research, Central University of Finance and Economics, Beijing 100081, China

IJERPH, 2018, vol. 15, issue 7, 1-21

Abstract: Global warming caused by carbon emissions has been recognized as a challenge to human sustainable development, and low-carbon city development is widely considered as an effective strategy to address this challenge. Numerous emission reduction measures have been implemented, and considerable efforts have been devoted in promoting low-carbon city. This paper examines whether sufficient efforts have been paid to these typical emission sectors, including Building, Industry, Energy Transformation, and Transportation by referring to the shared responsibility of each sector. The shared responsibility of individual emission sector is calculated by applying energy consumption data in 2014 World Energy Balance. The efforts contributed in emission reduction by each sector are examined by analyzing the low-carbon city work plans of 24 representative sample cities, which are selected globally. The research results demonstrate that sufficient emission reduction efforts have been paid in the Building sector and Transportation sector. But the Industry sector and Energy Transformation sector are less-attended in addressing emission reduction. The reason for the sufficient efforts paid in the Building sector and Transportation sector is considered as that the efforts for emission reduction in these two sectors can bring more co-benefits. However, emission reduction in Industrial sector is generally considered to have the effects of holding back economic growth, and the emission reduction in the sector of Energy Transformation will need enormous investment for advanced technologies. Policy for emission reduction in the Industry sector and Energy Transformation sector is indispensable to promote low-carbon city. This study appeals that (1) low-carbon city can be effectively implemented only if carbon reduction policy is adopted to all industrial activities; (2) multiple channels of financial resources should be established to support cities to mitigate carbon emissions in Industry sector; (3) cooperation on the development of clean energy technology between cities should be promoted; and (4) efforts should be paid to reduce carbon emission from using traditional energy transformation equipment by improving their efficiency.

Keywords: low-carbon city; carbon emissions; emission reduction policy; global perspective; climate change; sustainability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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