Publication:
Global Urban Carbon Emissions: Data Sources

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Files in English
English PDF (1.16 MB)
15 downloads
English Text (68.58 KB)
5 downloads
Date
2022
ISSN
Published
2022
Editor(s)
Abstract
City-level greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions data is necessary as an input into identifying, planning, and monitoring urban climate change mitigation actions. Until recently, the availability of emissions data at the city level required the existence of a local emissions inventory, produced through painstaking local data collection. These inventories use different methodologies and urban boundary definitions, and are available for different years, making comparison or trend analysis across cities difficult. However, academic researchers and international organizations have used modeling techniques and proxy data from various sources to estimate city-level emissions globally. As a result, data sets are now available that estimate emissions, by sector, for thousands of cities worldwide.
Link to Data Set
Citation
Deuskar, Chandan. 2022. Global Urban Carbon Emissions: Data Sources. City Climate Finance Gap Fund Technical Note. © World Bank. http://hdl.handle.net/10986/43088 License: CC BY-NC 3.0 IGO.
Associated URLs
Associated content
Report Series
Other publications in this report series
Journal
Journal Volume
Journal Issue

Related items

Showing items related by metadata.

  • Publication
    Carbon Crediting and Urban Climate Change Mitigation
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2023) Hoornweg, Daniel; Wotten, David; Deuskar, Chandan
    Approximately 70 percent of greenhouse gas emissions are generated through consumption in urban areas, which means that decarbonization of cities is essential to limit climate change to 1.5 to 2 °C. While per capita emissions in low- and middle-income countries remain low so far, prompt action is needed to ensure that cities in these countries remain on a low-carbon pathway, before rapid urbanization and increases in consumption lock in high emissions for decades. Technically feasible actions can cut up to 90% of emissions in cities globally between now and 2050. However, the infrastructure investments necessary to do this would cost USD 1.8 trillion each year, by one estimate.
  • Publication
    Primer on Urban Form and Greenhouse Gas Emissions
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2021) Deuskar, Chandan
    This knowledge note aims to summarize the relationships between urban form and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, for reference by practitioners and policymakers. It explores the ways in which various elements of urban form can impact the carbon of urban growth. In the context of GHG emissions, urban form is usually discussed in terms of population density, which is often visualized in terms of building heights, and its impact on transportation-related emissions. However, many different dimensions of the urban built environment, including not just density but also land use patterns, the configuration of street networks, and the materials and orientations of buildings, can impact urban GHG emissions in various ways. Urban density itself may or may not take the form of tall buildings. The impact of urban form on emissions is not restricted to its effect on transportation. The note clarifies these relationships, and also provides examples in which urban growth modeling tools quantify the emissions reductions from various growth scenarios.
  • Publication
    Urban Greenhouse Gas Modeling Tools
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2022) Deuskar, Chandan
    Urban GHG modeling tools vary in their intended uses, user interfaces, inputs, outputs, costs, etc. This knowledge note is intended as a primer, to help cities and organizations working with cities understand and select from among the tools available, based on their needs. It does not endorse any one tool over others.
  • Publication
    Banking on Cities: Investing in Resilient and Low-Carbon Urbanization
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-06-03) Deuskar, Chandan; Murray, Sally; Leiva Molano, Juan Sebastián; Khan, Ibrahim Ali; Maria, Augustin
    Cities around the world are responsible for ever-growing shares of people, assets, and economic activities vulnerable to climate disasters. They are also responsible for the majority of the world’s carbon emissions. Cities in low- and middle-income countries still have a window of opportunity to grow in resilient and low-carbon ways, to protect their populations and build strong and sustainable economic foundations. What are the resilient and low-carbon investments that these cities could make in the coming decades? How much will these investments cost, and where can cities look for resources to pay for these investments? These are the questions that Banking on Cities: Investing in Resilient and Low-Carbon Urbanization considers. The publication provides the most comprehensive and up-to-date assessment of key resilient and low-carbon investment costs in major urban sectors in all low- and middle-income countries to 2050. These include investments in urban transportation, energy-efficient buildings, solid waste management, water and wastewater, flood protection, and heat resilience. The estimated total cost of these investments revealed by this analysis is sobering: between US$256 and US$821 billion per year. However, “climate” investments are not a separate category of investments that cities need to make in addition to their regular investments. These are core urban investments that cities need to make for their local economic and social benefits in addition to their climate benefits. Banking on Cities advances the discussion on urban climate finance by exploring how cities can identify sources of funding and finance that are suited to different types of resilient and low-carbon urban investments. Just as climate investments are not a separate category of investments, climate finance is not necessarily a separate category of finance. While climate-specific sources, including carbon markets, green bonds, and others, are part of the picture, making these investments will require cities to address their financial fundamentals, including revenues, transfers, creditworthiness, and fiscal efficiency. This report will be a helpful guide for cities and national governments as they develop their urban investment strategies.
  • Publication
    Embodied Carbon Emissions
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024) Chen, Tao; Deuskar, Chandan
    The United Nation (UN) projects that 2.5 billion more people will live in cities by 2050, up from 4.4 billion today. Of the growing global population, most will come from the urban areas of low- and middle-income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, with Sub-Saharan African cities currently already seeing a 4.1 percent growth in population annually. African cities need to construct an estimated 56 million additional housing units to meet demand. The construction of this volume of new buildings and accompanying urban infrastructure involves significant embodied carbon emissions, i.e., emissions stemming from manufacturing, transportation, installation, maintenance, and disposal of building materials. While public discourse often centers around curtailing operational emissions, for example through energy efficiency and low-carbon energy supply, embodied emissions may surpass operational emissions, depending on the project. There has been limited research comparing operational and embodied emissions at the scale of entire cities, particularly in low- and middle-income countries. However, rough calculations suggest that in certain cases, embodied emissions may approach or even exceed the volume of operational emissions, for example in rapidly expanding cities with relatively low operational emissions due to mild climates, low household incomes, or renewable sources of grid electricity. This note is intended as an introduction to the subject of embodied emissions, aimed at urban decision-makers in low- and middle-income countries, including government officials, urban planners, advisors from international organizations, and others. It assesses prevailing practices within the construction industry and delves into several options to mitigate embodied emissions associated with construction. The annex also provides an overview on tools that can aid in estimating the environmental impact of various construction standards and policies.

Users also downloaded

Showing related downloaded files

  • Publication
    Digital Progress and Trends Report 2023
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-03-05) World Bank
    Digitalization is the transformational opportunity of our time. The digital sector has become a powerhouse of innovation, economic growth, and job creation. Value added in the IT services sector grew at 8 percent annually during 2000–22, nearly twice as fast as the global economy. Employment growth in IT services reached 7 percent annually, six times higher than total employment growth. The diffusion and adoption of digital technologies are just as critical as their invention. Digital uptake has accelerated since the COVID-19 pandemic, with 1.5 billion new internet users added from 2018 to 2022. The share of firms investing in digital solutions around the world has more than doubled from 2020 to 2022. Low-income countries, vulnerable populations, and small firms, however, have been falling behind, while transformative digital innovations such as artificial intelligence (AI) have been accelerating in higher-income countries. Although more than 90 percent of the population in high-income countries was online in 2022, only one in four people in low-income countries used the internet, and the speed of their connection was typically only a small fraction of that in wealthier countries. As businesses in technologically advanced countries integrate generative AI into their products and services, less than half of the businesses in many low- and middle-income countries have an internet connection. The growing digital divide is exacerbating the poverty and productivity gaps between richer and poorer economies. The Digital Progress and Trends Report series will track global digitalization progress and highlight policy trends, debates, and implications for low- and middle-income countries. The series adds to the global efforts to study the progress and trends of digitalization in two main ways: · By compiling, curating, and analyzing data from diverse sources to present a comprehensive picture of digitalization in low- and middle-income countries, including in-depth analyses on understudied topics. · By developing insights on policy opportunities, challenges, and debates and reflecting the perspectives of various stakeholders and the World Bank’s operational experiences. This report, the first in the series, aims to inform evidence-based policy making and motivate action among internal and external audiences and stakeholders. The report will bring global attention to high-performing countries that have valuable experience to share as well as to areas where efforts will need to be redoubled.
  • Publication
    Panama Poverty and Equity Assessment 2024
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-02-12) World Bank
    Panama has been one of the fastest-growing countries in the region, with rapid economic expansion accompanied by significant poverty reduction. Driven by public and private investment as well as labor accumulation, the Panamanian economy grew by an annual average of 5.7 percent between 1990 and 2023, much higher than the regional average of 2.5 percent. This growth contributed to a significant reduction in poverty. Using the poverty line of US$6.85 per day per capita (2017 PPP), the share of Panamanians affected by poverty improved from one in two in 1989 to only one in ten lived in 2023. Nevertheless, Panama remains one of the most unequal countries in the world. While poverty in urban areas was 4.8 percent in 2023, poverty in indigenous regions (comarcas) reached 76 percent—15 times higher. Limited progress in reducing inequality, as measured by the Gini coefficient, contrasts with Panama’s achievements in other areas. Globally, Panama ranked 11th in inequality in 2000, with a Gini coefficient of 53.8. Two decades later, it ranked 8th, with a Gini coefficient of 50.9 as of 2022. This report examines Panama’s achievements and challenges in reducing poverty and inequality to inform policy options. With a special focus on the 2008–2023 period the report documents progress in poverty and equity in recent decades, highlighting access to basic services, expansion of quality jobs, improvement of human capital, and promotion of household resilience as critical policy priorities.
  • Publication
    World Bank Annual Report 2024
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-25) World Bank
    This annual report, which covers the period from July 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024, has been prepared by the Executive Directors of both the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)—collectively known as the World Bank—in accordance with the respective bylaws of the two institutions. Ajay Banga, President of the World Bank Group and Chairman of the Board of Executive Directors, has submitted this report, together with the accompanying administrative budgets and audited financial statements, to the Board of Governors.
  • Publication
    Global Economic Prospects, January 2025
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2025-01-16) World Bank
    Global growth is expected to hold steady at 2.7 percent in 2025-26. However, the global economy appears to be settling at a low growth rate that will be insufficient to foster sustained economic development—with the possibility of further headwinds from heightened policy uncertainty and adverse trade policy shifts, geopolitical tensions, persistent inflation, and climate-related natural disasters. Against this backdrop, emerging market and developing economies are set to enter the second quarter of the twenty-first century with per capita incomes on a trajectory that implies substantially slower catch-up toward advanced-economy living standards than they previously experienced. Without course corrections, most low-income countries are unlikely to graduate to middle-income status by the middle of the century. Policy action at both global and national levels is needed to foster a more favorable external environment, enhance macroeconomic stability, reduce structural constraints, address the effects of climate change, and thus accelerate long-term growth and development.
  • Publication
    Business Ready 2024
    (Washington, DC: World Bank, 2024-10-03) World Bank
    Business Ready (B-READY) is a new World Bank Group corporate flagship report that evaluates the business and investment climate worldwide. It replaces and improves upon the Doing Business project. B-READY provides a comprehensive data set and description of the factors that strengthen the private sector, not only by advancing the interests of individual firms but also by elevating the interests of workers, consumers, potential new enterprises, and the natural environment. This 2024 report introduces a new analytical framework that benchmarks economies based on three pillars: Regulatory Framework, Public Services, and Operational Efficiency. The analysis centers on 10 topics essential for private sector development that correspond to various stages of the life cycle of a firm. The report also offers insights into three cross-cutting themes that are relevant for modern economies: digital adoption, environmental sustainability, and gender. B-READY draws on a robust data collection process that includes specially tailored expert questionnaires and firm-level surveys. The 2024 report, which covers 50 economies, serves as the first in a series that will expand in geographical coverage and refine its methodology over time, supporting reform advocacy, policy guidance, and further analysis and research.