C40 appoints new City Advisers

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) has announced the initial results from its first annual City Adviser competition, in which member cities were invited to nominate specific projects, programmes, or policies for dedicated, on-the-ground C40 support. Eight global cities – Addis Ababa, Athens, Melbourne, Mexico City, New York, Shenzhen, Sydney, and Vancouver – were awarded City Advisers for a period of up to two years based on their applications’ strong potential for impact and replication across the C40 network.

“C40 received an overwhelmingly positive response to the inaugural call for applications, a clear sign of both the ambitious climate goals of our member cities and the value of a C40 resource on the ground,” Jared Pruzan, Manager of C40‘s City Adviser Programme, told Cities Today. “Over 50 percent of the membership base pursued a city adviser, including applications from every region touching on adaptation, energy, finance, new community development, transportation, waste, and planning.”

The projects implemented by C40 City Advisers in the chosen cities are expected to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by more than 9 million tonnes C02e over the next five years.

Appointments in Melbourne, New York City, Sydney, and Vancouver will be co-funded by C40 and the respective cities. This type of match funding enables C40 to place additional City Advisers to test important strategies and amplify lessons through C40 networks and peer-to-peer engagement, thereby accelerating similar climate actions around the globe, without additional resources from C40.

“The goal of the competition is to provide difference-making resources to host cities with the greatest demonstrated need for a City Advisor, and municipal priorities with the greatest potential to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and/or climate risks,” added Pruzan. “In this way, the City Advisor competition will make the greatest difference for C40’s member cities, from helping to expand a bus rapid transit programme to designing a new evaluation guideline for energy efficiency projects.”

New City Advisers will put the following projects into action:

Addis Ababa

• A bus rapid transit (BRT) system in Addis Ababa, which will connect with Light Rail Transit corridors, new bike lanes, and freight management systems to reduce current carbon emissions by ten times, decrease congestion, and improve air quality.

Athens

• The first comprehensive, integrated, long-term Climate Action Plan for Athens, with clear quantitative and qualitative targets, milestones and monitoring tools.

Melbourne

• The redevelopment of two iconic precincts in Melbourne’s City North as models for sustainable development, including 40 percent more energy efficient commercial buildings and 25 percent more renewable energy.

Mexico City

• Climate risk reduction projects prescribed by Mexico City’s recent Climate Action Program 2014-2020, designed to reduce vulnerability, create an informed, concerned society with increased capacity for resilience, and establish joint responsibility between government and its citizens to achieve a low-carbon society.

New York

• Energy efficiency and climate risk programmes for small to mid-sized buildings in New York City, which represent 35 percent of citywide energy consumption and 98 percent of the city’s nearly one million buildings.

Shenzen

• Low-carbon development in Shenzhen, which will help the city achieve its goal of reducing its carbon intensity by 21 percent between 2010 and 2015.

Sydney

• A data-driven approach to evaluating emissions reduction opportunities in Sydney, analysing each sector and creating a prioritised roadmap for the city, including toolkits and communications plans, to help the city reach its goal of 70 percent emissions reduction for the local government area by 2030.

Vancouver

• Innovative strategies to reduce GHG emissions in Vancouver’s multi-unit buildings by 20 percent from 2007 to 2020, including condominium retrofit programmes, incentives, and financing tools; green landlord and tenant coaching to identify cost effective, mutually beneficial upgrades; and facilitated partnerships between utility providers and non-market housing organisations to conserve energy in low-income, multi-family residences.

Future application cycles, which will be open to all C40 cities not currently hosting City Advisers, will help grow the programme to better represent the full geographic diversity of C40’s membership.