James Kenny
Head of Global Affairs,London
C40 Cities are on track to reduce their collective annual emissions by 248 million tonnes by 2020, just with the measures they have already undertaken or committed to.
This is according to new research undertaken by the C40 that Arup was a key contributor to.
The figures were presented as mayors and delegations from the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group assembled in Brazil to coincide with the Rio + 20 Climate Change Summit.
The group’s event – Rio + C40: Megacity Mayors Taking Action on Climate Change – successfully highlighted the many concrete actions that are helping the C40 Cities network to tackle climate change.
C40 Cities have undertaken nearly 5,000 climate-related actions since the global network first formed in 2005. In many cases, these actions were taken without national government support.
This latest data supports the findings of the Climate Action in Megacities report written by Arup and C40: that cities are extremely active in taking steps to reduce carbon emissions and they have potential to do even more.
“Mayors and cities don’t have the luxury of just sitting around and talking about problems, because on a whole range of critical issues, the buck stops at City Hall. Because of Mayors’ commitment to action, cities are making great progress in reducing greenhouse gases, which helps beat back climate change and makes our cities better, more liveable places. The data we are releasing today is more evidence that cities have been and will continue to lead the way.
+ Michael R. BloombergNew York City Mayor and current chair of the C40
“"My Foundation has been working since 2006 with the mayors of many large cities around the world to help them reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. [These] announcements prove that, through creative partnerships, we can help reduce our carbon output to protect our environment and create jobs to grow our economies.
+ Bill ClintonFormer US President and founding partner of the C40
The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) is a network of large and engaged cities from around the world committed to implementing meaningful and sustainable climate-related actions locally that will help address climate change globally.