ABSTRACT
The creation of low-carbon economies was proposed following the initial recognition of climate change. Though the term “low-carbon economy” can be found in literature as early as the late 1990s (Kinzig and Kammen, 1998), it was not presented in any official document until February 24, 2003, when the UK’s then Prime Minister Tony Blair announced Our Energy Future: Creating a Low Carbon Economy (DTI, 2003). Nine years later, it has become a global trend to transition to low-carbon economies. At present, there are many different understandings of what a low-carbon economy means, as a result of a lack of a universal evaluation matrix. Many cities in China are demonstrating their political will as well as initiating actions to develop a low-carbon city in their jurisdictions, yet they are mostly at the pilot phase, with a systematic low-carbon economy development framework still to be developed. In order to provide guidance for the development of low-carbon economies, it is imperative that a matrix be developed to define and evaluate low-carbon cities. The remainder of this paper is structured as follows. The next section describes the concept and key characteristics of a low-carbon economy. The section after that analyzes key factors involved in transitioning to a low-carbon economy. The fourth section introduces the framework of an evaluation matrix for low-carbon cities. The fifth section is an application of the matrix in Jilin city as a case study. Conclusions are presented in the final section.
