全球变化知识资源中心

A carbon capability maturity model was constructed to measure the capability of urban residents to voluntarily reduce carbon emissions. This model distinguished five maturity levels: the initial level, growth level, standard level, integration level, and optimization level. Based on the empirical study about urban residents in 10 eastern provinces (cities) of China, this study found that the carbon capability maturity of the urban residents exhibited an obvious "pyramidal" distribution, which ranged from the initial level to the optimization level. About 71.7% of the residents were at the initial level, but the proportions of those at the standard level, integration level, and optimization level were less than 10%. Shanghai, Fujian, Guangdong, and Hainan were at the growth level, whereas the urban residents in Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Shandong were at the initial level. The main reason for this gap was the difference in the carbon identification capability. The maturity gap of the urban residents in Shandong was the largest, whereas the gap in Tianjin and Hebei was relatively small. Based on the conclusions, policy implications were proposed to promote the improvement of the carbon capability maturity.