The C40 Blog provides a platform for sharing important, diverse perspectives on
current issues from C40 mayors, experts, partners and international thought leaders.
Cities are home to more than half the global population and are engines of the global economy, representing innovation, creativity and entrepreneurship. Now, as global concern over the impacts and risks of climate change intensifies, cities are being recognized for their position at the vanguard of climate change action. Scientific American has devoted its September issue to cities and the future of green innovation in the world’s urban centers, exploring many of the solutions that the C40 is forging and supporting.
Continuing its groundbreaking sustainability efforts, Texas’s largest city has launched a major city-wide electric vehicle program called “Houston Drives Electric.” Houston Mayor Annise Parker, the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) Cities Program, which is now a fully integrated partner with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), power producer NRG Energy’s eVgo program and charging station manufacturer ECOtality are moving this car-dependent city toward a more sustainable transportation network.
Developers in Seattle have broken ground on a building on the cutting edge of efficiency and sustainability in the commercial building sector. Designed to be net-zero for water and energy use, the so-called living building will be able to collect and use rainwater, generate its own power and compost its own sewage.
The climate change actions of C40 Cities are “not only environmentally sound...[but] also save taxpayers money” says an article featured this week in The Economist magazine, which focused on the US contingent of the global network.
