Urban Low-Carbon Consumption Performance Assessment: A Case Study of Yangtze River Delta Cities, China

Urban low carbonization has been an essential element in China’s carbon peak and carbon neutrality strategies. An assessment of urban low-carbon performance could provide valuable information for monitoring and guiding the low-carbon transition in cities. However, due to cross-regional carbon transfer, the actual level of achievement would be masked, if the assessment was based only on a production-based index such as carbon emission intensity (CEI). Focusing, instead, on consumption-based low-carbon performance, this study calculated levels of urban carbon consumption intensity (CCI) based on city-level carbon footprint accounting, investigated the patterns and drivers of changes in CCI of 26 Yangtze River Delta (YRD) cities from 2012 to 2015, and conducted a comparative analysis of CEI and CCI data from both static and dynamic viewpoints. It was found that the CCI of YRD cities decreased from 1.254 to 1.153 over the period. Cities at higher economic levels were found to have lower CCI values. Decomposition results show that shifts in production structure, intensity of emissions and changing consumption patterns contributed to the decline in CCI of the YRD area. Richer cities were found to show greater declines in CCI due to decarbonizing structures in production and consumption. The comparative results show that although the CEI and CCI of cities were generally correlated in both static level and dynamic change, the net carbon transfer impacted the correlation sensitivity between various cities. Finally, our findings provide practical guidance on achieving coordinated emission reductions at an inter-city level from both production and consumption perspectives.