Chinese cities exhibit varying degrees of decoupling of economic growth and CO2 emissions between 2005 and 2015

Abstract

Highlights d 11% of Chinese cities achieved strong decoupling of GDP from CO 2 from 2005 to 2015 d 65.6% of the cities achieved weak decoupling d A city-level inverted-U relationship (or EKC) between CO 2 and GDP is weakly confirmed d Decline in emission intensity via efficiency gains is vital to achieving decoupling

Keeping Track of Greenhouse Gas Emission Reduction Progress and Targets in 167 Cities Worldwide

“…On the basis of these results, we proposed several policy recommendations to further advance future climate actions in cities. 20052, Paris;3, Chennai;4, Barcelona;5, Milan;6, Stockholm;7, Los Angeles;8, Seoul;9, New York City;10, Vancouver;11, San Francisco;12, Durban;13, Toronto;14, Chicago;15, Austin;16, Boston;17, Washington, DC;18, Istanbul;19, London;20, Copenhagen;21, Philadelphia;22, Sydney;23, New Orleans;24, Athens;25, Bangkok;26, Amman;27, Houston;28, Bogotá;29, Oslo;30, Seattle;31, Auckland;32, Cape Town;33, Ciudad de México;34, Buenos Aires;35, Lima;36, Madrid;37, Montréal;38, Melbourne;39, Johannesburg;40, Curitiba; 41, Rio de Janeiro; 42, Venice.…”

“…The targets for the cities with more developed economy and higher urbanization rate are more ambitious (e.g., 25% of carbon intensity declined for Hangzhou and 23% for Guangzhou and Shenzhen), while the goals are generally more conservative for cities that are still at a fast-developing stage (e.g., the intensity targets for Urumqi and Haikou were 12 and 14%, respectively). Absolute targets are developed for Chinese cities in the "14th Five-Year-Plan, " and some cities (e.g., Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Suzhou, Jinan, and Qingdao) have pledged to achieve carbon 20052, Vancouver;3, Stockholm;4, Paris;5, Sydney;6, San Francisco;7, Milan;8, Barcelona;9, Boston;10, New Orleans;11, Austin;12, Washington, DC;13, Copenhagen;14, Athens;15, Los Angeles;16, Durban;17, Toronto;18, Chicago;19, Chennai;20, Philadelphia;21, Oslo;22, New York City;23, Seoul;24, Seattle;25, Houston;26, Amman;27, London;28, Istanbul;29, Bogotá;30, Bangkok;31, Auckland;32, Melbourne;33, Cape Town;34, Buenos Aires;35, Montréal;36, Ciudad de México;37, Venice;38, Madrid;39, Lima;40, Curitiba;41, Johannesburg;42, Rio de Janeiro. peak before 2025. These targets are consistent with China's commitments to mid-term goals (60-65% reduction in CO 2 emissions per unit of GDP by 2030 compared with 2005).…”

“…The inventories of GHG emission of 18 cities in China from 2000 to 2014 were established to analyze the effects of socioeconomic development and industrial structure (Shan et al, 2017;Xu et al, 2018). In addition, carbon inventories of 294 Chinese cities were built by applying China high-resolution emission database, which suggests that reducing emission intensity through improving the efficiency of production and energy use is one of most important strategies for decarbonization (Shan et al, 2021).…”

“…FIGURE 3 | Annual change of GHG emission in cities over2005 2, Vancouver; 3, Stockholm; 4, Paris; 5, Sydney; 6, San Francisco; 7, Milan; 8, Barcelona; 9, Boston; 10, New Orleans; 11, Austin; 12, Washington, DC; 13, Copenhagen; 14, Athens; 15, Los Angeles; 16, Durban; 17, Toronto; 18, Chicago; 19, Chennai; 20, Philadelphia; 21, Oslo; 22, New York City; 23, Seoul; 24, Seattle; 25, Houston; 26, Amman; 27, London; 28, Istanbul; 29, Bogotá; 30, Bangkok; 31, Auckland; 32, Melbourne; 33, Cape Town; 34, Buenos Aires; 35, Montréal; 36, Ciudad de México; 37, Venice; 38, Madrid; 39, Lima; 40, Curitiba; 41, Johannesburg; 42, Rio de Janeiro. …”

Decoupling of economic growth from CO2 emissions in Yangtze River Economic Belt cities

“…At the provincial level, Wu et al (2019) applied the OECD decoupling model to analyze the Chinese provinces' decoupling effects during 2001-2015 and found that the main decoupling type of Chinese 30 provinces turned into strong decoupling from weak decoupling. However, few studies explored the decoupling of CO 2 emissions and economic growth at the city level (Li et al, 2019;Shan et al, 2021). By compiling emission inventories of global and Chinese cities, Kennedy et al (2014) and Tong et al (2018) demonstrated the differences in urban characteristics lead to huge differences in emission reduction strategies.…”