A Tool for Cities to Take Urgent Climate Action

By Jacob Corvidae, a manager in RMI’s buildings practice

At COP23 in November, Rocky Mountain Institute also launched The Carbon-Free City Handbook, a global action guide for cities, which has changed the conversation around city climate action. America’s Pledge and #WeAreStillIn have been crucial to galvanizing US efforts around climate change. Still, for cities in the United States and the rest of the world, moving from climate commitments to climate action is often fraught with numerous barriers and delays. We created The Carbon-Free City Handbook to help cities take action this year.

With this book, we have upended the status quo. We no longer endorse the industry-wide recommendation that cities start their climate actions by creating comprehensive climate action plans. The resources most cities have for climate action are highly constrained, both in terms of budget and staffing. Our new mantra: if cities have to choose between making plans or making progress, then make progress. We don’t have time to wait. As former Mayor of Vancouver Gregor Robertson wrote in the book’s opening, “We are excited about the progress we’ve made, but this is just the start. We need to take bold action to tackle climate change.” The Carbon-Free City Handbook makes this possible.

The book’s 22 “no-regrets” actions can move a city toward carbon neutrality, can be launched by a city within a year, have been proven to be viable, and are applicable to most cities with a population over 100,000 globally.

Nearly 1,000 copies of the book have been distributed at gatherings of city leaders interested in climate action, and more than 1,500 electronic versions have been downloaded since its launch. “This handbook is exactly what our cities need,” said Amanda Eichel, executive director of the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, which represents 7,400 cities. “It’s accessible and helps them move from general strategies to specific actions. We’ll be sharing RMI’s handbook to help our cities act now and raise the ambition on climate action.”

Other city networks, such as the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network, are sharing RMI’s city work with their members. Interest in the handbook has led to a workshop for cities across Alberta, Canada, and a commissioner from Ontario, Canada, has been providing copies to cities across the province. We’ve also had follow-ups from across the United States, including Alaska, California, Colorado, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, and Virginia. Finally, a Chinese translation was provided to cities in the Alliance of Pioneer Peaking Cities, and the Chinese central government has stated that the handbook has been very useful in its planning.

Some of RMI’s initiatives are building upon this work to further engage cities. Working through existing city-led networks, our Residential Energy+ initiative is providing technical assistance to cities to help them launch or improve programs to reduce residential energy use, including exploring how to move toward net-zero energy construction. We are also providing expertise in utility-scale renewables procurement through our Business Renewables Center to help cities secure a clean energy supply, and model the benefits to their communities.

RMI will continue to use the book in our efforts to help cities move from concept to action. You can, too; we encourage you to share The Carbon-Free City Handbook with your local leaders.

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, which underwrote the Handbook, is now supporting RMI in creating a companion piece for states and regional governments to support actions that they can take to drive larger-scale efforts than cities can, and support the cities in pursuing a clean, prosperous, and secure energy future.