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C40 unveils research on climate action

06 February 2014

by Richard Forster

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) has released landmark research demonstrating a clear trend of expanding and accelerating climate action in the world’s megacities.

Climate actions, such as implementing rigorous energy efficiency regulations for buildings, instituting bus rapid transit lines or flood mapping efforts, aim to reduce global greenhouse gas emissions and improve urban resilience to climate change.

“Mayors have real power to cut emissions and improve climate resilience, and they are taking action,” said Eduardo Paes, C40 Chair and Mayor of Rio de Janeiro. “C40’s networks and efforts on measurement and reporting are accelerating city-led action at a transformative scale around the world.”

The report, Climate Action in Megacities Volume 2.0 (CAM 2.0), was developed in partnership with consultancy firm Arup and released at the C40 Mayors Summit in Johannesburg. It clearly demonstrates that C40 cities are taking action, and are dedicated to working together in the fight against climate change. The research shows that across C40 cities, mayors hold the power to enact change, and this power is evidenced by widespread efforts across key sectors.

CAM 2.0 follows an initial report published in 2011, which provided an unprecedented benchmark of actions C40 Cities have taken, and an inventory of powers mayors hold over key climate protection sectors.

Key findings of CAM 2.0 include:

  • Reported action has nearly doubled since 2011, with cities now reporting more than 8,000 climate actions currently underway.
  • 41 percent of actions are taking place at a transformative, citywide scale
  • 98 percent of reporting cities say climate change presents significant risks to their populations and infrastructure.
  • C40’s networks have successfully driven collaboration between cities and have led to massive scale-up of projects and programmes.
  • Learning between cities is truly global. For example, the number of cities reporting BRT systems more than doubled between 2011 and 2013, with 13 forerunners in the global south and 16 successors largely in developed, western countries.

“Measurement for management’ has been a key tenet of C40, and one that will remain central to C40’s operations going forward,” said Mark Watts, C40 Executive Director. “Our data will inform the strategic direction of C40 programmes and initiatives, and enable C40 cities to set targets, evaluate actions and access resources. This ability to target our efforts is critical, given the urgent need to reduce emissions and climate risks.”

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