The Importance of City Climate Action in 2016

The role of cities in the fight against climate change was at the forefront of the COP21 as over four hundred mayors descended on Paris City Hall for the Climate Summit for Local Leaders. That’s because city-led local climate action can make a real impact when it comes to meeting the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Cities are home to 70 percent of the world’s energy-related carbon emissions, 53 percent of the world’s population, and many of the world’s largest cities are on coastal or inter-coastal waterways. It is city leaders that are directly responsible to their constituents — and they are motivated to promote the sustainability, health and livability of their cities.

In 2015, 441 cities around the world committed to the Compact of Mayors, a global coalition of mayors and city officials working to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, enhance resilience to climate change, and track their progress publicly. They did so as a commitment to help reverse the rising impacts of climate change.

The Paris Agreement was signed by national governments with that same intent — but it is mayors in every city in every corner of the world who have the power to turn the agreement into action.

Cities are leading when it comes to reducing carbon emissions to build a more resilient future. Currently, more than 460 local governments from all continents and regions across the globe have committed to the Compact and pledged to track their emissions reduction progress transparently.

Right now, Compact of Mayors cities represent over 390 million people or 5.39% of the total global population.

As more cities make commitments this year, the Compact’s global potential for emissions reductions in 2030 would be equivalent to nearly 25% of the “gap” between national pledges made in advance of the 2015 Paris Climate Summit and the “2 degrees” Celsius scenario.

Cities Already Taking Action

Cities cannot afford to wait to begin to mitigate and adapt to the impacts of climate change. Mayors across the world are already hard at work implementing projects that will help to reach the goals of the Paris Agreement.

Cities committed to the Compact are already on track to deliver half of the global urban potential greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reductions available by 2020.

These Compact of Mayors member cities offer only a few examples of how cities are leading by taking action now, while there are still four years remaining before the national pledges of the Paris Agreement take effect in 2020.

In January, Mayor Won-Soon Park of Seoul launched the Seoul Station 7017 project. This undertaking will transform a decrepit highway into a walk-able parkway inspired by New York City’s High Line. Instead of repurposing the infrastructure for cars, the Seoul Skygarden will convert the 938-metre long former elevated highway next to Seoul’s Central Station into a green open space for the people of Seoul to travel the city.

In Denmark, to mitigate the risk of disastrous floods, the City of Copenhagen announced its plan to develop parks throughout the city that will transform into ponds. These ponds are part of the city’s larger plan to redesign water infrastructure.

And in São Paulo — the biggest city in the western hemisphere — rapid urbanization has produced a housing crisis that has plagued the city. Mayor Fernando Haddad plans to revolutionize the city’s urban design for the 21st century by committing to building 717,000 new affordable housing units by 2030.

Moving Towards Implementation

Cities are leading on reducing carbon emissions to ensure that we have a cleaner and more resilient future.

2016 is set to be the year for local climate action, as cities committed to the Compact in 2015 move from commitment to implementation.

The Compact of Mayors’ partners, C40, ICLEI and UCLG will work alongside cities as they make further progress towards measuring and reporting on local GHG emissions and climate risk.

As we continue to turn commitment into action, we will share stories of city action and their impact. Follow us as we document the process and highlight the importance of cities in this global fight against climate change.

Follow @CompactofMayors on Twitter and Facebook for more stories on city climate action.