Eleven cities were honoured today at an awards ceremony in Mexico City. The C40 Cities Awards recognize the world’s most inspiring and innovative cities tackling climate change. Sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies and BYD, the C40 Cities Awards ceremony was held during the C40 Mayors Summit, where more than 40 mayors from around the world gathered to create sustainable and liveable cities for citizens.
Outgoing C40 Chair and Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes:
“On behalf of C40, I want to congratulate all the winning cities for their commitment to their citizens and their dedication to tackling climate change,” said outgoing C40 Chair and Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes. “Throughout my tenure as C40 Chair, I have been increasingly impressed by the calibre of the C40 Cities Award winners, and I look forward to seeing other mayors around the world adapting and implementing these models in their own cities.”
C40 President of the Board and U.N. Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael R. Bloomberg said:
“The C40 Cities Awards recognize the best and boldest work being done by mayors to fight climate change and protect people from risks. The winning projects show that great progress is being made on every continent, and they serve as an inspiration to other cities. They also show how cities can help the world meet the ambitious goals set a year ago in Paris.”
An expert jury panel comprised of former mayors, climate experts and others, selected ten winning urban sustainability projects based on excellence in urban planning and dedication to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving resiliency. The selected cities exemplified the best policies, projects and programmes globally, and for the first time included a category recognizing social equity.
“Today, we celebrate some of the projects that are key to delivering on the world’s climate ambition and will help put us on a path to a carbon-safe future,” said Chuanfu Wang, Chairman and President of BYD Co. Ltd. “We recognise the incredible human power and thoughtful consideration that goes into making these projects reality. BYD is extremely proud to support the Awards and help to accelerate the implementation of these truly innovative programs.”
C40 has partnered with Associated Press Images to capture compelling images from each of the winning city projects. These can be downloaded by clicking here, and are free to use. Winning city projects are:
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Addis Ababa (Transportation): The Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (LRT) Project has improved the city’s public transport system and created more than 6,000 jobs. The cumulative emission reduction potential of the LRT system is forecasted at 1.8 million tCO2e by 2030. |
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Copenhagen (Adaptation in Action): Copenhagen is threatened by sea level rise and heavy downpours. The Cloudburst Management Plan – Project Implementation is an integrated system of green streets and pocket parks that will function as water retention areas and water basins. |
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Curitiba (Sustainable Communities): Urban Agriculture in Curitiba aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through urban agriculture: directly through carbon sequestration in soil, biological nitrogen fixation by legumes and non-use of chemical nitrogen fertilisers; and indirectly by reducing food and waste transport distances, composting organic waste, reduction of "heat islands" and creating environmental awareness. |
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Kolkata (Solid Waste): Kolkata’s climate change risks have been exacerbated by unsanitary disposal and waste dumping. Kolkata Solid Waste Management Improvement Project has achieved 60-80% (depending on site) segregation of waste at its source, with further waste segregation occurring at transfer stations. Forward looking, the project aims to eradicate open dumping and burning of waste and to limit the concentration of methane gas generated in landfill sites.
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Portland (Climate Action Plans & Inventories): The overarching goal of Portland's 2015 Climate Action Plan (CAP) is to deliver an integrated set of strategies by 2020 to keep Portland on a path to reduce GHG emissions 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. The proportion of citizens travelling primarily by public transport, cycling or walking is expected to rise to 50%, and the number of electric vehicles is set to increase four-fold to 8,000. The CAP aims to reduce energy use in existing buildings by 1.7% annually, resulting in an annual GHG emissions reduction of 280,000 metric tonnes in 2020. |
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Seoul (Social Equity & Climate Change): The Energy Welfare Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme aims to contribute to the city’s targets on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction while simultaneously reducing energy consumption and spending for low-income families. In 2015, Seoul financed energy retrofits for 1,295 households and aims to finance a further 1,050 households in 2016. |
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Shenzhen (Finance & Economic Development): Shenzhen is one of the fastest growing cities in the world with a population of 15 million and an annual GDP growth rate of 10%. Implementing an Emissions Trading System (ETS) scheme carried many challenges, but Shenzhen has recruited 636 enterprises to partake in its ETS scheme. Green low carbon development of the city is now possible thanks to uncoupling GDP potential from GHG emissions. |
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Yokohama (Clean Energy): Yokohama Smart City Project (YSCP) strives to more effectively manage energy use and mitigate climate change through energy management systems. The city’s action plan sets the target of an 80% CO2 emissions reduction by 2050. The project is designed to engage citizens and stakeholders as a key factor of successful implementation. |
Earlier in the day during the C40 Mayors Summit, C40 unveiled a report, Deadline 2020: How cities will get the job done, outlining a vision to reduce emissions by 2020 and help meet the Paris Agreement targets.
For more information on the Awards and the winning projects, visit: http://www.c40.org/awards. You can download images from the winning cities here.
For the most up-to-date details about the 2016 C40 Mayors Summit, please refer to the website: http://www.mayorssummit2016.c40.org/.
Follow the C40 Cities Awards on social media with #C40Awards and the C40 Mayors Summit with the hashtag #Cities4Climate.
Read the full release here.