This paper identifies three types of model environmental cities in China and examines their levels of energy-related carbon emissions using a bottom-up accounting system. Model environmental cities are identified as those that have been recently awarded official recognition from the central government for their efforts in environmental protection. The findings show that, on average, the Low-Carbon Cities have lower annual carbon emissions, carbon intensities, and per capita emissions than the Eco-Garden Cities and the Environmental Protection Cities. Compared internationally, the Eco-Garden Cities and the Environmental Protection Cities have per capita emissions that are similar to those of American cities whereas per capita emissions from the Low-Carbon Cities are similar to those of European cities. The result indicates that addressing climate change is not a priority for some model environmental cities. Policy changes are needed to prioritize climate mitigation in these cities, considering that climate change is a cross-cutting environmental issue with wide-ranging impact. 1. Introduction Climate change is one of the most significant challenges facing the world today and cities are increasingly seen as key contributors to the issue. Urban activities, such as motorized transport, industrial production, electricity generation, domestic fuel use, and waste disposal generate significant amounts of greenhouse gases [1–3]. The International Energy Agency (IEA) forecasted that, by 2030, urban areas will account for 76% of global carbon emissions [4]. Thus, to prevent dangerous climate change, cities must bear some responsibility for reducing their impact on climate change and formulating effective responses [1, 5]. Inventorying urban carbon emissions is an important first step to address climate change effectively and fairly. Creating emissions inventories at the city level allows policymakers to identify the sources, establish baselines, monitor changes over time, make cross-comparisons with other localities, set appropriate emissions reduction targets, and formulate appropriate solutions [1]. The importance of inventorying urban carbon emissions is underscored by the large number of studies dedicated to such task [6–12]. China is critically important to the global effort of addressing climate change because of its enormous size of emissions [13]. Since 2006, the government has stepped up measures to promote energy conservation and renewable energy [14, 15]. Yet virtually no cities in China openly publish their greenhouse gases inventory on a regular
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