Speaker
Description
As cities increasingly commit to achieving carbon neutrality, they engage in greenhouse gas (GHG) inventories to measure their emissions. These inventories are typically guided by international frameworks, such as the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC), and primarily rely on production-based accounting (PBCA). This approach focuses on emissions produced within the city boundaries. However, a growing body of literature highlights the limitations of PBCA, emphasizing that it captures only a partial view of urban emissions (Lombardi et al., 2017; Millward-Hopkins et al., 2017). These scholars support a shift towards consumption-based carbon accounting (CBCA), which considers emissions embedded in goods and services consumed within cities, regardless of their production location.
This transition is deemed critical mostly for Western cities, where production-based emissions are declining while consumption-based emissions are projected to increase (Harris et al., 2020; Sudmant et al., 2018). Furthermore, production-based mitigation efforts might be offset by the rise in consumption emissions (Millward-Hopkins et al., 2017). Overall, CBCA is considered to offer a more comprehensive and equitable framework for addressing urban GHG emissions, incentivizing the adoption of policies that promote less carbon-intensive consumption and the reduction of carbon leakage processes (Grasso, 2016). In policy circles, international networks such as C40 are increasingly acknowledging the role of cities in global consumption emissions and advocating for their reduction.
However, existing studies predominantly address methodological issues, such as data collection and calculation techniques (Yin et al., 2022), and research on the governance and political dimensions of CBCA at the city level remains scarce. Research in this area has primarily been conducted at the national level (Grasso, 2016), leaving a critical gap in understanding the local governance conditions to account for and tackle consumption-based emissions. Therefore, this article aims to address that gap by investigating the governance and political conditions necessary for developing CBCA in cities, using Paris and Gothenburg as case studies. Both cities have established ambitious consumption-based emissions targets and corresponding strategies to address them.
The research employs a mixed-method approach, combining desk research, qualitative analysis of cities’ official documents, and in-depth interviews with city officials. Preliminary findings reveal several key governance factors driving the adoption of a CBCA. First, national-scale institutions, including research organizations and government agencies, play a pivotal role by providing cities with data, standards, and methodologies. Despite some methodological struggles, these contributions enhance the legitimacy of urban efforts to address consumption-based emissions. Second, the cases demonstrate a high awareness among policymakers about the embodied emissions associated with urban consumption and their global impacts. This awareness is, in part, linked to a historic commitment to climate mitigation. Third, embedding numerical consumption-based targets within climate plans, along with the development of sector-specific roadmaps, are critical enablers to ensure the accounting and tackling of these emissions in the long term. To do so, the development of partnerships with the local private sector emerges as a key strategy to tackling emissions which are outside of municipal jurisdiction.
The study provides a valuable insight into the governance conditions required for CBCA implementation and highlights the best practices from leading cities. These findings can inform the development of CBCA approaches in cities and support institutions such as international city networks.
References
Grasso, M., 2016. The Political Feasibility of Consumption-Based Carbon Accounting. New Polit. Econ. 21, 401–413. https://doi.org/10.1080/13563467.2016.1115828
Harris, S., Weinzettel, J., Bigano, A., Källmén, A., 2020. Low carbon cities in 2050? GHG emissions of European cities using production-based and consumption-based emission accounting methods. J. Clean. Prod. 248, 119206. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2019.119206
Lombardi, M., Laiola, E., Tricase, C., Rana, R., 2017. Assessing the urban carbon footprint: An overview. Environ. Impact Assess. Rev. 66, 43–52. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.eiar.2017.06.005
Millward-Hopkins, J., Gouldson, A., Scott, K., Barrett, J., Sudmant, A., 2017. Uncovering blind spots in urban carbon management: the role of consumption-based carbon accounting in Bristol, UK. Reg. Environ. Change 17, 1467–1478. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10113-017-1112-x
Sudmant, A., Gouldson, A., Millward-Hopkins, J., Scott, K., Barrett, J., 2018. Producer cities and consumer cities: Using production- and consumption-based carbon accounts to guide climate action in China, the UK, and the US. J. Clean. Prod. 176, 654–662. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclepro.2017.12.139
Yin, L., Sharifi, A., Liqiao, H., Jinyu, C., 2022. Urban carbon accounting: An overview. Urban Clim. 44, 101195. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.uclim.2022.101195
| Keywords | Consumption-based carbon accounting; Carbon neutrality; Climate governance; Production-based carbon accounting |
|---|---|
| Best Congress Paper Award | No |
