Estimating consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions at the city scale

This guide by the Stockholm Environment Institute explains how local governments can estimate consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions inventories (CBEIs) to understand the full carbon footprint of their communities, including emissions generated outside city borders.

• Consumption-based emissions inventories (CBEIs) typically reveal a significantly larger carbon footprint than territorial inventories because they account for emissions from the production and transport of goods outside city boundaries. In North American cities, CBEIs are generally about twice as high as territorial emissions, while the ratio in European cities can be even larger.
• A study of 79 cities by C40 Cities found that CBEIs were 60% higher on average than territorial GHG inventories, though results varied by region. Cities in Europe and North America often have much higher ratios, whereas cities in Asia and Africa may have consumption-related emissions that are lower than their territorial emissions.
• Residents of wealthy, industrialized nations have consumption footprints far exceeding the global average. Emissions associated with residents in the UK, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and the U.S. are between two and four times higher than the global average resident consumption of 6.3 t CO2e.
• While territorial inventories highlight emissions from power, buildings, and transport, CBEIs emphasize the significant impact of food, goods, services, and air travel. In selected U.S. cities, these additional categories each generally contribute 2 tons or more of CO2e per person.
• There are three primary ways to estimate consumption for a CBEI: using spending data combined with input-output models; using physical data from consumer surveys or waste audits combined with process-based life-cycle analysis (LCA); or using a hybrid approach that combines national statistics with local activity data.
• Input-output models are advantageous for creating full CBEIs using widely available spending data, but they often lack city-level resolution and may not capture local variations in production or spending. Conversely, process-based LCA provides more specific, locally tailored estimates but is too cumbersome to construct a full city-wide inventory.

APA

Broekhoff, D., Erickson, P., & Piggot, G. (2019). Estimating consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions at the city scale. Stockholm Environment Institute. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/estimating-consumption-based-greenhouse-gas-emissions.pdf

Chicago

Broekhoff, Derik, Peter Erickson, and Georgia Piggot. Estimating consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions at the city scale. Stockholm Environment Institute, 2019. https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/estimating-consumption-based-greenhouse-gas-emissions.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Broekhoff |first1=Derik |last2=Erickson |first2=Peter |last3=Piggot |first3=Georgia |title=Estimating consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions at the city scale |publisher=Stockholm Environment Institute |date=February 2019 |url=https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/estimating-consumption-based-greenhouse-gas-emissions.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{broekhoff2019estimating, author = {Broekhoff, Derik and Erickson, Peter and Piggot, Georgia}, title = {{Estimating consumption-based greenhouse gas emissions at the city scale}}, institution = {Stockholm Environment Institute}, year = {2019}, month = feb, url = {https://www.sei.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/estimating-consumption-based-greenhouse-gas-emissions.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }