Evaluating China’s pilot low-carbon city initiative: national goals and local plans

Panel: 3. Local action and national examples

This is a peer-reviewed paper.

Authors:
Nina Zheng Khanna, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
David Fridley, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA
Lixuan Hong, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, USA

Abstract

In the past decade, China’s unprecedented urbanization has paralleled a 250% growth in primary energy demand. With urban per capita commercial energy use three times higher than rural, urban areas are the crux of energy and CO2 emissions reduction in China. In recognition of cities’ importance in future energy use and CO2 emissions increase, the Chinese government launched a demonstration program of 5 low-carbon pilot provinces and 8 pilot cities in 2010 to promote low-carbon urban development. As one of the first national scale programs to promote low-carbon urban development, China’s pilot low-carbon cities aim to decouple economic growth from fossil fuel use by shifting to an economy based on energy efficiency and renewable energy. This paper analyzes the current development of low-carbon cities in China in order to evaluate if and how these cities can shape China’s future energy and emission trajectories.

This paper first reviews the historical development and context for the pilot low-carbon cities and related eco-city initiatives in China as strategies for addressing urbanization challenges. An ex-ante assessment of China’s pilot low-carbon cities is then conducted through comparative review of the low-carbon development plans and supporting measures formulated for each pilot city. These plans are compared and evaluated in terms of the policy scope, targets and focus areas as well as supporting local policy measures, strategies and tools already put in place to date. A case study of the pilot city of Hangzhou’s planning and implementation process is used to illustrate progress in implementing low carbon plans. We find that while the 8 pilot cities have made progress in establishing low-carbon plans, key barriers such as a lack of explicit definition for low-carbon city, complexity and confusion resulting from several parallel programs, and insufficient supporting policies and market-based instruments may hinder urban development that is truly low carbon.