Tag: New Climate Economy

2016 was a monumental year for C40, our member cities and our mayors. Not only did the Paris Agreement enter into force less than one year after COP21, but we also saw the number of C40 member cities grow to 90, representing more than 650 million citizens, and our Steering Committee unanimously elected the first-ever woman C40 Chair, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, to lead the organisation. Below, we look back at ten key moments that made 2016 a very productive and important year. 

Cities are all about efficiency. It’s why they exist: to allow easy access to jobs, goods, services and ideas. However, in many countries, new and expanding cities are sprawling, car-dependent and uncoordinated – a set-up that’s not only inefficient, but carbon-intensive.

Thankfully, a new vision for sustainable urban growth is spreading, emphasizing the economic and environmental benefits of compact, connected and coordinated cities. More efficient urban growth can drive a productive, equitable economy while limiting traffic accidents, air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. Wide consensus is forming among national and local leaders, who understand the economic case for an urban transition. But while we have agreed on a better vision for future cities, what remains to be seen is the “how” of the transition.

Better, more productive models of urban development are critical for rapidly growing cities in the developing world, and in Africa in particular. How African cities assimilate the 22 million people that will be added to their number every year for the next three decades will determine the continent’s prospects. Africa’s urban population is set to triple between 2010 and 2050, reaching 1.34 billion people. The trend is fastest in East and West Africa - the population of Lagos is expected to top 25 million in the next 15 years – but common to all regions.

Today, New Climate Economy released new research showing that investing in smart cities has the potential to generate savings of US $17 trillion by 2050, while cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 3.7 Gt CO2e per year by 2030 – more than the current annual emissions of India.

Better economic growth can help close the greenhouse gas emissions gap, according to a new report released today by the New Climate Economy, the flagship project of the Global Commission on the Economy and Climate.