World Cities Day event attendees say big data can help reduce emissions

Experts have called for intensified efforts to explore low-carbon transformation in China's urban areas as the country strives to realize net zero carbon emissions before 2060.

They made the comments on the sidelines of the 2020 China Observance of World Cities Day as the three-day event, with the theme "valuing our communities and cities", concluded on Sunday in Fuzhou, Fujian's provincial capital.

President Xi Jinping announced that China aims to have carbon dioxide emissions peak before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060 in a video address at the general debate of the 75th session of the United Nations General Assembly in September.

Li Xiaojiang, former head of the China Academy of Urban Planning and Design, said at the observance that Xi's commitment was a significant milestone.

Urban design is key to meeting people's desire for a happy life, he said, "but if we stick to the old urban design mode that features high carbon emissions and consumption to meet that desire, that would be a disaster for the world and for the Chinese people".

"With the new target of realizing carbon neutrality, President Xi has charted a clear course for future development," Li said. "That is green prosperity."

Energy, industry, construction and transportation are major producers of carbon emissions, which are mainly produced to feed consumption demand in urban areas. The end users to blame for the emissions are in communities and buildings, Li said.

He said, however, that research on reducing carbon emissions in China has mostly focused on industries, with little work done in regard to the general situation in communities and buildings, let alone how to promote emissions reduction in those places.

Efforts could be made to help reduce emissions in communities and buildings, such as promoting the circular use of resources and upgrading the conservation of heat in buildings, he said.

Yang Rong, inter-regional adviser of UN-Habitat, an international body focused on sustainable urban development, said 70 to 80 percent of carbon emissions and energy consumption around the world occur in urban areas, making cities vitally important in promoting emissions reduction and tackling climate change.

In addition to traditional approaches such as promoting green and energy-efficient buildings and the use of clean energies in transportation, urban areas could also use big data technologies to promote the construction of intelligent cities as they intensify the management of energy consumption to scale up emission reductions, he said.

Wu Zhiqiang, vice-president of Tongji University in Shanghai, said a city's ability to promote carbon emissions reduction and achieve carbon neutrality will play a decisive role in its future competitiveness.

While cities competed in terms of GDP growth in the past 40 years, future competition will "surely" focus on who can lead the way to carbon neutrality in the coming 30 years, he said.

Wu, a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, offered Germany as an example, saying the country has maintained its role as the spearhead in economic development in Europe because it has adhered to a green path as a core development principle, with many green technologies from Germany enjoying dominant positions in the continent's high-end market.

Xi's concept that "lucid waters and lush mountains are invaluable assets" is significant and realistic, he said, with many rich nations having mastered green technologies.

World Cities Day was first proposed in a declaration issued on the closing day of World Expo 2010 in Shanghai in a bid to advance urban development.

Thanks to the efforts of various Chinese bodies, including the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, the UN General Assembly decided in December 2013 to designate Oct 31 as World Cities Day.

This year's observance was co-organized by the ministry, Fujian's provincial government and UN-Habitat.