The C40-report was launched today in Copenhagen.
Until 2009, conventional wisdom was that governments and intergovernmental institutions were the political powers responsible for tackling global climate change. Since then, however, the wheel of history has turned, and it seems that cities are now the ones looking after our planet.
While presidents and prime ministers have a very hard time deciding anything but process, mayors from Mumbai and Madrid to Sydney and Sao Paulo are busy providing infrastructure, transport, water and housing for their citizens – and a lot of the solutions are thankfully more sustainable than they used to be.
Today Mark Watts, director of climate change from global consultants Arup presented “Climate Action in Megacities” at an event in Copenhagen, hosted by Green Growth Leaders-cofounder City of Copenhagen, and the messages once again underlined that cities are leading the green growth race. The report, commissioned by C40, the global collaboration between the world’s 40 biggest cities, looks at the actions taken in the C40-cities on climate change that together account for about 10% of global emissions of CO2.
The conclusion is that initiatives are flourishing in all regions, that cities actually do have the power to implement solutions within e.g. buildings, transport, water, waste and to some degree energy – and that the potential is enormous. First and foremost the report tells us that simple things like sharing of knowledge and collaboration does lead to change. Many solutions are travelling from one megacity to the next through inspiration or – as Mark Watts put it – when “we have been able to capture the imagination of mayors”.
With Lord Mayor of Copenhagen Frank Jensen presently heading Eurocities,an alliance of 140 European cities, chances are that the ideas will travel even further, and that is hugely encouraging. An interesting example is bicycles. I have often entertained international audiences with the amazing story about bicycles in Copenhagen accounting for 40% of commuting, but I am always met by skepticism when it comes to copying this to other cities. It is impossible, most people say. Actually, no. Arup tells us that bicycle schemes are the most popular solutions that is now spreading to cities around the world, partly inspired by success in Copenhagen and Asian cities.
While the report gives an excellent overview of actions, a logical next step would be to look at the output: Firstly, if C40-members today account for 10% of emissions, what will happen in the future? Will these emissions decline as more sustainable solutions are deployed? Will we see leapfrogging, where rapidly developing cities in emerging economies avoid repeating the mistakes of the “old” world? Secondly, what are the socioeconomic benefits of these actions?
As a starting point, Green Growth Leaders will in October release a new study that estimates the social and economic benefits of eight green projects in Copenhagen, e.g. what is the job creation, GDP, real estate prices and benefits for quality of life?
In any political process, this is where the fun starts.
Download the C40-report here.
