The International Institute for Environment and Development (IIED) says it found that per capita emissions in many of the world’s largest cities are often just a fraction of the national average.
"The real climate change culprits are not the cities themselves but the high-consumption lifestyles of people living across these wealthy countries," said report author David Dodman.
He points to well-designed and well-governed cities that can combine high living standards with much lower greenhouse gas emissions.
The report says that New Yorkers register footprints of 7.1 tons each, less than a third of the national average of nearly 24 tons.
Beijing and Shanghai buck the trend and actually produce significantly more than Japanese cities, including Tokyo.
The study says that factories outsourced to China from former industrial leaders, such as the United States, are responsible for the higher per capita emissions in the Chinese cities.
Contradicting the IIED study’s findings, Anna Tibaijuka, executive director of UN-Habitat, said that cities really emit 50 to 60 percent of the world’s greenhouse gases. This rises to 80 percent if indirect emissions generated by city-dwellers are included.
She said more than half of the world's population now lives in cities, but they consume 75 percent of global energy.
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