Two great world cities join the C40 network, committing to deliver on the highest ambition of the Paris Agreement
C40’s Participation Standards enforced to annul the membership of four cities not meeting the high ambition of the network, bringing total membership to 94
London, UK (21 January 2019) — Lisbon, Portugal and Hangzhou, China have joined the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, affirming the commitment of these cities and their mayors to tackling climate change.
In Lisbon, Mayor Fernando Medina has already signed C40’s Deadline 2020 commitment, and the city is working to develop a climate action plan that is consistent with the highest goals of the Paris Agreement. Lisbon is also the first southern European capital to be recognised as European Green Capital for the year 2020
In Hangzhou, Mayor Zhang Hongming has approved a strategic “low-carbon city” vision and set a target to peak the city’s emissions by 2020 while its population is growing significantly. In 2016, Hangzhou successfully hosted G20 Summit, further elevating its international reputation.
As a Climate Leadership Group, C40 expects member cities to actively participate in the Network and deliver on our collective objective of taking bold climate action, leading the way towards a healthier and more sustainable future.
The activity of individual member cities is tracked each year against a series of Participation Standards, designed to drive ever greater climate ambition and each member city is expected to deliver against these Standards if they wish to remain within C40. Following a recent meeting of C40’s Mayoral Steering Committee three cities, Cairo, Egypt; Changwon, South Korea; and Mumbai, India, were judged to have not sufficiently met C40’s Participation Standards and therefore their membership of the C40 Cities network has been annulled. In addition, the membership of Basel, Switzerland was also annulled as it no longer met the criteria for membership in the ‘Innovator’ category. These changes bring the total number of C40 Cities, committed to bold climate action, to 94.
“I am very pleased to welcome the great cities of Lisbon and Hangzhou into the C40 Cities network. The commitment of these cities to creating a sustainable, healthy and prosperous future is critical to delivering on the Paris Agreement and creating the future that we want,” said Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris and Chair of C40. “Membership of the C40 network is a serious responsibility for mayors and cities around the world. Our goal is to set the very highest levels of ambition in climate action to shape the future for all citizens.”
Mayors from across the C40 Cities network will convene at two flagship events in 2019. The third annual Women4Climate Conference will bring together women leaders, tech entrepreneurs and the young women climate leaders of the future in Paris on February 21st, 2019.
At the C40 Mayors Summit in Copenhagen, October 10-11th, 2019, the world’s great cities will demonstrate precisely how they are implementing the radical policies and projects needed. Together we will define and create the sustainable, healthy and prosperous cities of the future.
– ENDS –