Eco-efficiency in European cities

Abstract

Emissions of greenhouse gases (GHG), such as Carbon Dioxide (CO2), intensify the greenhouse effect, thus warming Earth’s climate. Cities could be producing about 70 of the anthropogenic GHG emissions, with half of the world population currently living in urban areas, and an additional one sixth expected for 2050. Given that, it becomes very relevant to study, on the one side, the GHG cities emissions with respect to their production level, and on the other side, the determinants of the city’s economic and environmental efficiency performance (eco-efficiency). This paper computes eco-efficiency scores of selected European cities, using the Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) technique. The eco-efficiency index selected is the CO2 emissions per production value, taken as output, while inputs include labor productivity, patents, use of water and energy consumption of the city. Then, using the DEA output scores as dependent variable, we use the Malmquist index to assess the energy efficiency and productivity of several German and French cities. This approach helps to identify the factors that lie behind good or poor economic-environmental performances of the European cities considered, guiding local and national political decision makers in GHG reduction strategies. Results allow us to conclude that (…).