Applying Abatement Cost Curve Methodology for Low-Carbon Strategy in Changning District, Shanghai

This report summarizes the study that applies abatement cost curves and scenarios to set low-carbon targets and identify cost-effective low-carbon investments for Changning District, Shanghai. At the request of Changning District government, the Bank team supported a Shanghai energy conservation institution, assisted by an international firm, in conducting a comprehensive survey of buildings in Hongqiao area in the Changning District, and in developing CO2 abatement cost curves to identify the abatement potential, cost, and ease of implementation of various mitigation measures. Three alternative abatement scenarios were developed to establish an ambitious low-carbon target for Hongqiao area. The use of CO2 abatement cost curves, bottom-up investigation surveys, and ease-of-implementation considerations for defining an investment program to reduce CO2 emissions was the first of its kind at the time. The abatement cost curve developed under this upstream analytical work allowed the district government to make informed decisions about medium-term targets for CO2 abatement and to identify priority actions and investments to meet them.