Carbon emission allocation standards in China: A case study of Shanghai city

Defining carbon emission allocation standards is becoming increasingly important for China to achieve its emission reduction targets, and support global climate change mitigation and energy constraints. This paper defines and adopts the principle of equal historical cumulative emissions per capita, and uses Shanghai as a case study to build an allocation standard for carbon emissions. First, using China's emission reduction targets, we established the carbon emission space for 2020, then constructed an allocation standard for Shanghai carbon emissions for 2020. We found that Shanghai's total carbon emissions between 2000 and 2013 had exceeded China's average carbon emissions, driven by a traditional economic development model. These results point to the necessity of reducing carbon emissions from 2011 levels effectively. The carbon emission per capita has become increasingly faster since 2012. Finally, we provide policy suggestions for low-carbon development, from the perspectives of industry structure, institutional innovation, low-carbon technology, incentive mechanisms, and new energy supplies. This study's methods can be applied to other regions to build an allocation standard for carbon emissions. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.