After Trump announced the United States would be leaving the Paris climate accord, other politicians filled the vacuum. Hundreds of city leaders pledged to live up to the Paris agreement and signed on as members of the Climate Mayors, a bipartisan, peer-to-peer network of mayors working to demonstrate leadership on climate change.

Working in conjunction with the C40 Cities initiative – a group of major world cities trying to cut climate-changing emissions - Johannesburg, Cape Town, eThekwini (formerly Durban) and Tshwane (formerly Pretoria) will require new buildings to become much more energy efficient, to cut electricity bills and greenhouse gas emissions.

Tokyo Gov. Yuriko Koike announced Wednesday the adoption of the Tokyo Declaration, in which 22 megacities around the world committed to reducing waste and tackling air pollution by sharing technologies and knowledge. The announcement came during the Tokyo Forum for Clean City and Clear Sky, a two-day symposium hosted by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government in Shinjuku Ward.

Heidelberg, a mid-size medieval city in Germany’s southwest, has ambitious plans to clean up its air, joining a list of 14 bigger municipalities like London, Mexico City and Los Angeles by signing the C40 Green and Healthy Streets declaration for fossil-fuel-free streets.

The C40 Climate Action Planning Africa Programme will provide direct support to 11 African Cities in developing unprecedented, robust and evidence-based long-term climate action plans that align with the ambitious objectives of the Paris Agreement.