Cities play a central role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. They produce a majority of global emissions, but they also offer unique opportunities to improve efficiency through density, coordinated planning, and large-scale deployment of low-carbon solutions. In China, urban areas account for over 75% of total carbon dioxide emissions, with significant potential for that share to rise further. Between now and 2050, continued urbanization will add 200 to 300 million new urban residents, necessitating massive investments in urban infrastructure and industries. These investments will shape cities' long-term emissions trajectories and create carbon-intensive development patterns for decades.

The Low Carbon Cities Program aims to inform and encourage Chinese cities to advance early carbon peaking and neutrality by developing science-based decarbonization pathways, with an emphasis on low-carbon urban infrastructure.