What is Low-Carbon Development? A Conceptual Analysis

Low-carbon development has recently attracted attention from various countries and researchers, which may give different interpretations on the concept. This paper p rovides a theoretical and conceptual analysis of various low-carbon related concepts. We first divide low-carbon development into three different stages through which the key concepts pertaining to each stage are identified. Then we provide a systematic comparison of six key concepts including low-carbon development, low-carbon economy, low-carbon society, low-carbon city, low-carbon community and low-carbon life. The similarities and differences among the six concepts have been finally summarized.