Role of Large Cities in Addressing
Climate Change

We've all noticed that the weather seems to be getting more unpredictable, and summers seem to be getting hotter. And longer. Well, that's not just a perception; it's a reality. It's called global warming but the impact can be local.”
— Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor of the City of New York, 2006

The majority of the world’s people live in cities. With urban lifestyles, city dwellers use vast quantities of energy in everyday activities such as heating or cooling homes and offices, driving to and from work, providing the food we eat and transporting the resources we use. This energy is mostly derived from fossil fuels and significantly contributes to the greenhouse gas emissions that cause climate change.

Cities also contribute to greenhouse gas emissions from waste management practices, and clearing forests and vegetation for urban expansion. All this adds up to climate change being inextricably linked to the increasing demand on resources that flow from a rapidly growing urban population.

City governments, in both rich and poor countries, have considerable influence over their city’s greenhouse gas emissions as they often:

• Own buildings and facilities such as sports stadiums, street lighting, and waste treatment plants, which directly consume large quantities of energy.
• Manage landfills and waste treatment plants, both of which are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions.
• Have significant purchasing power, thus being able to influence markets for vehicles, equipment and technologies.
• Set local land use policies, determining where development is located and the mix of uses allowed.
• Operate public transit and transportation infrastructure.
• Apply building codes, determining the energy efficiency of local building stock.
• Regulate automobile parking, traffic flow and roadways.
• Own or control their local energy utility.

There are a growing number of cities around the world that are reducing their greenhouse gas emissions. This work is sometimes being carried out in partnership with leading businesses, and has been achieved through initiatives that mandate building energy efficiency and sustainable land use and reduce reliance on single occupancy vehicles. New York’s energy efficiency building code requirements, London, Stockholm and Singapore’s congestion charging zones, and Curitiba’s public transport system are all excellent examples.

Much of the success of these initiatives is due to each solution meeting the city’s specific geographical, political, ecological and economic requirements and the needs of their citizens. Many of these initiatives are making money for the city governments, and are directly and tangibly contributing to the social and economic vibrancy and the health of these cities.

The progress that individual cities are making is being accelerated through a range of partnerships and initiatives that have formed to not only facilitate sharing of information and successes, but also to apply bipartisan political pressure on other levels of governments to assist cities to meet the challenge posed by climate change.