C40 report that cities have doubled climate action’s since 2011
C40 chairman, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes, spoke at C40 Summit today and outlined how efforts on measurement and reporting are accelerating city-led action
63 of the world's largest cities have nearly doubled their climate change mitigation activities since 2011, according to a report from the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group.
In excess of 8,000 climate actions have been implemented by the cities referenced in the report which has been developed in partnership with consultancy firm Arup.
The C40 Cities Mayors Summit 2014 began yesterday in Johannesburg and mayors and top officials from more than 45 cities are taking part in the summit, which is being hosted in Arica for the first time.
The C40 chairman, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes, spoke at the Summit today and stated that: “Mayors have real power to cut emissions and improve climate resilience, and they are taking action. C40’s networks and efforts on measurement and reporting are accelerating city-led action at a transformative scale around the world.”
According to C40 sources, the C40 cities represent 600 million people worldwide, 5 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions and 21 per cent of gross domestic product.
New members to the group this week iclude Cape Town, Dar es Salaam and Nairobi and membership of the group now stands at 66.
The group also has plans in place to establish a City Director in the next two years to which cities can apply for resources to help with climate priorities.
According to Paes, the group is set to ask the United Nations to include a specific urban target among its sustainable development goals.