Burson-Marsteller

Big cities leading the way on climate change

by Bill Royce on 12th July 2011 • The Cast Blog

Followers of the UN’s climate change negotiations will be disappointed with the poor progress at the talks in Bonn last month.  Hopes of a new international agreement to replace the Kyoto Protocol when it expires in 2012 are fading fast. 

Kyoto is far from perfect – for example, it places no obligations on developing nations including China, now the largest emitter of greenhouse gases – but at least it has provided a framework for coordinated international planning and action. 

Shell talks about two different energy scenarios: Scramble and Blueprints.  In Scramble policymakers pay little attention to more efficient energy use until supplies are tight, and greenhouse gas emissions are not seriously addressed until there are major climate shocks.  In the preferred Blueprints world growing local coalitions address the challenges of economic development, energy security and environmental pollution, spurring global cooperation to reduce CO2 emissions.

At the international policy level we’re jammed in Scrambles.  If, however, you look at regions like Europe, individual countries like China (now the largest investor in renewable energy and clean technologies) and Australia (where a courageous minority government is trying, against awful political odds, to put in place a workable carbon tax) and at the city level, there are green shoots of Blueprints.

This new report from the Carbon Disclosure Project, prepared by KPMG and launched at the Mayors Summit of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, is welcome good news.  42 cities from all continents participated in the report:  10 from North America, 9 from Europe, 8 in Latin America, 5 each in East Asia and Southeast Asia/Oceania, 3 from Africa and 2 in South and West Asia.

The role of cities in climate change is critical. As Michael Bloomberg, New York Mayor and C40 Chair, says in the report:

“For the first time in history, half of the world’s people live in cities and together are responsible for more than 70 percent of the world’s greenhouse gas production. … There is no single solution for confronting climate change. Still, the best scientific data tells us that it is long past time to address this challenge, and that cities must lead the way.”

Overall the CDP found that 72% of reporting cities measure and report on municipal and community-wide greenhouse gas emissions and the risks and opportunities from climate change.  Among the key findings:

• Over 90 percent of reporting cities identify themselves at risk due to climate change
• 23 C40 cities (54% of reporting cities) identify risks from climate change effects already underway or expected in the short term. More than half of these (15) face serious to extremely serious levels of risk including more hot days, more intense rainfall, increased severity of storms and floods, and rising sea level.
• A significant number of cities are experiencing more frequent/intense droughts creating water supply issues, while others – inundated with more rainfall – are experiencing floods, landslides and other natural disasters.
• 69% have greenhouse gas emission reduction targets from city government operations.  These range from Chicago’s modest 6% by 2010 to Addis Ababa’s 75% and both Austin and Melbourne’s ambitious 100%, all three by 2020. Most civic targets fall between 20-30% by 2020-30. Only two cities (London and Toronto) have targets through to 2050 (both 80%).
• Average targets for emission reduction equate to around 2.3% per year, which is in line with the annual targets set by multinational corporations.
• The priority areas for achieving emission reductions are retrofitting buildings, renewable energies, street lighting, and cleaner transport fleets and public transit systems.

This final point mirrors a survey for the US Conference of Mayors covering 396 of the 1,200 cities with populations of 30,000 people or more.  Of the 396 cities from all 50 states, representing about 74 million people, LED and other efficient lighting (76%), low-energy building technologies (68%) and solar power (46%) are the top choices for reducing energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.

While setting targets is much easier than meeting them (remember Kyoto?), the fact that big cities in all continents are taking climate change seriously gives hope that significant progress can be made despite the gridlock at the international level. 

Tip O’Neill, former Speaker of the US House of Representatives, famously observed that “all politics is local”.  I am hopeful that municipal, civic and local government, where decision-makers are held accountable by neighbours,  and where partisan politics and the influence of the lobbying dollar is weak, will continue to innovate and lead the way – because all climate impacts are also local.

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One Response to “Big cities leading the way on climate change”

1. Lawrie McLaren says:

   17th July 2011 at 12:56 pm

   Thanks for sharing Bill. Would be great if the participating cities could communicate this locally. Maybe it’s because I am in Brussels I wasn’t aware! Need for some C40 branding leading ultimately to certification?