Today, the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) announced the 33 finalists competing in ten urban climate action categories for the third-annual C40 Cities Awards, sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies and global electric vehicle leader BYD Company Ltd. Felipe Calderón, former President of Mexico and Chair of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate serves as Chair of the C40 Cities Awards Jury Panel. The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony to take place in Paris on December 3, during the COP21 climate negotiations.
The C40 Cities Awards provide global recognition for cities demonstrating world-leading policies and programmes that reduce emissions and improve sustainability; they represent a breadth of tangible climate solutions in key sectors including building energy efficiency, low-carbon transport and climate adaptation, making cities all over the world more liveable.
“The finalist cities have shown incredible creativity and leadership in tackling climate change, and the C40 Cities Awards enable other leaders around the world to learn from these successes and bring solutions rapidly to scale.” said Antha Williams, who leads the Environment Program at Bloomberg Philanthropies and serves on the C40 Board. “Cities lead in global efforts to combat climate change, and their local climate action and commitments are helping nations to set more ambitious goals during global negotiations in Paris during COP21.”
This year, C40 received more than 200 applications from 94 cities, which were reviewed in partnership with sustainability think tank and consultancy Sustainia. Of the ten awards categories, four are open only to C40 cities and cities that have committed or intend to commit to the Compact of Mayors, a global coalition of mayors and city officials committed to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, enhance resilience to climate change and track their progress transparently. The Finalist projects were selected based on five assessment criteria, including innovation, co-benefits, and ability to replicate and scale the project.
"It's quite substantial for cities to learn from each other on how to improve the urban environment and reduce the emissions. BYD is also trying our best to build communication platform for cities around the world through meaningful ways. BYD is very pleased to see that our electric urban public transportation strategy has extended to more than 150 cities globally from the original city of Shenzhen,” said Sherry Li, BYD Overseas Marketing Director.
The ten C40 Cities Awards categories are: Carbon Measurement & PlanningAdaptation Planning & AssessmentBuilding Energy EfficiencyGreen Energy. The remaining categories are open to all cities: Finance & Economic DevelopmentSolid WasteAdaptation ImplementationSmart Cities & Smart Community EngagementSustainable CommunitiesTransportation. Finalist cities by category:
Carbon Measurement & Planning:
Portland, Seoul, Vancouver
Adaptation Planning & Assessment:
Melbourne, New Orleans, Rotterdam
Building Energy Efficiency:
New York, Seoul, Sydney
Green Energy:
Amman, Vancouver, Washington, DC
Finance & Economic Development:
Johannesburg, London, Toronto
Solid Waste:
Durban, Milan, Wuhan, Yokohama
Adaptation Implementation:
Cape Town, Copenhagen, Jakarta, Paris
Smart Cities & Smart Community Engagement:
Boston, Melbourne, New York
Sustainable Communities:
Johannesburg, Stockholm, Wuhan
Transportation:
Buenos Aires, London & Bogotá, Nanjing, Singapore
For more information on the Awards and the projects of the Finalist cities, go to: www.c40.org/awards