At the C40 Mayors Summit in Johannesburg today, C40 Cities released Climate Action in Megacities 2.0, a landmark research report that demonstrates a clear trend of megacities expanding and accelerating their climate actions. Climate actions – like implementing energy efficiency standards for buildings or adding bus rapid transit lanes – aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and improve urban resilience to climate change.
In addition to illustrating that cities are dedicated to working together in the fight against climate change, the report also shows that mayors across C40 cities hold jurisdiction over many sectors – it is this power that allows them to enact change.
“Mayors have real power to cut emissions and improve climate resilience, and they are taking action,” said C40 Chair, Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes. “C40’s networks and efforts on measurement and reporting are accelerating city-led action at a transformative scale around the world.”
Key findings of the CAM 2.0 report are captured in an infographic, below. These findings include:
- Reported action has nearly doubled since 2011, with cities now reporting more than 8,000 climate actions currently underway.
- 41% of actions are taking place at a transformative, citywide scale.
- 98% 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. For instance, there is a 500% increase in cities implementing bike-sharing schemes over just two years (6 in 2011 to 36 in 2013).
- 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.
CAM 2.0 – developed with C40 partner Arup – 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.
C40 Director Mark Watts released the research at the opening plenary of the Mayors Summit in Johannesburg this morning, and then led a compelling panel on the importance of measurement and data in advancing city climate agendas. Mayor of Rio de Janeiro and C40 Chair Eduardo Paes, Houston Mayor Annise Parker, Oslo Governing Mayor Stian Berger Røsland and World Resources Institute President and CEO Andrew Steer joined the panel, offering insights and examples on the topic.
“’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.”
Sectors included in the report are Adaptation & Water, Energy Efficiency, Energy Supply, Finance and Economic Development, Sustainable Communities, Transport and Waste. Simply scroll down to view an infographic that highlights the key findings in each of these sectors.
To view the full report, click here.
To read the press release, click here.
This article and infographic originally appeared on the C40 Cities Blog.