The World Widelife Fund for Nature (WWF) launched a report Thursday, offering guidance on China's quest for low-carbon cities.

The report, Low-Carbon City: Why and How, said that the essence of low-carbon is to reduce carbon emissions and thus prevent the global temperature rising 2 C above the pre-industrial level.

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Globally, urban centers consume 75 percent of the world's energy, and account for 80 percent of the world's carbon emissions, the report said.

The report pointed out the key steps in building a low-carbon city, including undertaking a greenhouse gas inventory, analysis of emissions, considered city planning and setting up assessment indicators.

It said low-carbon cities can be achieved through the mass use of renewable energy, increased energy efficiency, and the rein-in of energy demand.

In addition, the report said it is vital for such elements in a city, as buildings, transportation, financing, industries and residents' lifestyles, to adopt low-carbon principles.

China has chosen five provinces and eight cities to pilot the low-carbon development mode, and 133 out of the 287 cities across China have expressed a willingness for a low carbon approach, according to Li Lin, deputy country representative of WWF China.

The report suggested city governments plan for a low-carbon approach by analyzing statistics, setting up monitoring and developing an assessment system.

Experts at the WWF workshop on Thursday also urged the country's different research institutes to work out unified standards to identify what is a low-carbon city.

China's urbanization rate reached nearly 50 percent in 2010, and is projected to increase to more than 70 percent by 2050, Jim Grandoville, the CEO of WWF China, said in the report.