The title of this book – Solved – is provocative. Deliberately so. But is it true to say that the climate crisis can be solved in cities? Yes. Entirely by cities? Perhaps not, although it is in cities that we can do the most important thing to address the climate crisis: act now. The contributions by cities to lowering emissions from electricity generation, transportation, buildings, and waste are real. If the best existing strategies are replicated quickly at scale, they can make the material difference needed now by dramatically lowering the emissions that cause climate change. Published reports have concluded city action can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by as much as two-thirds, possibly even by 70 to 75 per cent. Most important, cities can solve the climate crisis because they’re doing what is most urgently needed today – taking effective action at scale to get dramatic results over the next decade.
Studies show that in the developed world, emissions need to peak very soon and start dropping – halving by 2030, on the way to net zero by 2050 – if we are to have any hope of avoiding the worst of climate change. For large cities – certainly the members of the C40 – the requirement of science is that the emissions from those urban areas must peak no later than the end of 2020, and be on a path to be (collectively) halved by 2030. The good news is that by the end of 2019, thirty-four of those cities had already peaked emissions, and more than one hundred (C40 and non-C40) had committed to having a plan to do exactly that. And the further good news is that, using the projects and programs mentioned in this book, along with others, it is possible to get the world on track by 2030.
I first truly realized the global effectiveness of city-based action at the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) in Copenhagen, Denmark, in November 2009. I knew, of course, that cities were leaders – I had seen action by mayors on global issues like SARS, the 2008 financial crisis, and climate change. But being in Copenhagen brought home the fact that it was really only cities that were taking major action to address climate change on the international stage. It also demonstrated to me that people were with the mayors – that they expected and demanded leadership on climate change, regardless of what a few loud voices said in opposition.
COP15, in Denmark, was supposed to be the moment in which the nations of the world came to agreement about measures to address the climate crisis. It was in a country that was a leader, significant diplomatic work had already been done, and the United States had a new and dynamic president who wanted the world to address climate change. There was a recipe for success. But the negotiations failed.
At the same time that the negotiations were in the midst of collapsing, at a convention center outside the main city, near the airport, the mayors of more than one hundred cities attended the Copenhagen Climate Summit for Mayors, right in the center of town – in the square beside city hall. The mayors were united in showing their actions – united behind the slogan “While Nations Talk, Cities Act.” The then mayor of Copenhagen, Ritt Bjerregaard, and I cohosted the event – mayors from every continent attended. Work done by these cities to reduce greenhouse gases was on display every day. It generated buzz and excitement – so much so that cities were the cover story on the newspaper being printed for the delegates to the COP. The contrast could not have been more stark. More than one hundred mayors, effectively using the powers and influence they had in public transit, buildings, active transportation, development, waste management, traffic reduction, energy, and much more to reduce emissions. They were effective, creative, and passionate – Mayor Bjerregaard had even commissioned MIT to invent a new electric-powered bicycle for the occasion – and the contrast with national governments (lacking urgency, ineffective, and disorganized) could not have been more clear. It was abundantly clear to me at that moment that if the world had hope to address climate change, that hope had to start with the leadership and actions of cities.
Today, thousands of cities are acting to address climate change and have made long-term commitments. It’s hard to know precisely how many cities are on track to meet what science requires, because their actions and commitments are not always captured and measured externally.
The leading network of major cities – C40 Cities – does commit its members to both science-based targets and external monitoring of achievements. As I write this book, the chair, Mayor Eric Garcetti of Los Angeles, and the elected steering committee of mayors are engaging hundreds of other mayors of major cities to agree to those commitments – the targets science says are necessary, the actions needed to meet them, and the external validation of progress.
I have had the privilege of witnessing climate action by activist mayors and their city governments firsthand, through my work as mayor of Toronto, my involvement with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, and involvement in numerous other efforts where cities have worked together or where civil society, business, labor, or academia have worked with cities. Clear to me from all this work is how well cities can learn from each other and adapt the best ideas to their context – as Montreal did creating BIXI bikes after the mayor saw the Paris Vélib’ bikeshare program, or as Sydney and Melbourne did after learning about Toronto’s Better Buildings Partnership at a global conference of mayors. Perhaps the best example is the founding of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group itself.
Founded by London mayor Ken Livingstone in 2005, the idea from inception was that the voices and the actions of the mayors of the world’s leading cities could help the world avoid dangerous climate change. The idea wasn’t an accident – it came about because of London’s development of its own climate strategy. In 2004, Mayor Livingstone, concerned about climate change, tasked his team to develop a city-led climate strategy. This was new to the team, so they turned to colleagues in other cities to find out which cities had leading and innovative ideas on climate. The answer they heard most often was Toronto, and as a result Mayor Livingstone contacted us and asked us to second City of Toronto staff to London to help London create its first climate strategy. The success of this exchange sparked Mayor Livingstone to think about an even bigger idea – what would happen if more cities began to collaborate. After discussion with his peers, the C40 was formed – forty of the largest cities in the world determined to use city-to-city learning and the voices of the mayors of the world’s most powerful cities to make a material difference on climate change.
The results have been extraordinary.
Since 2004, the organization has grown, and other collaborative networks are helping to drive urban-based climate action. The Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy, for example, founded in 2016, has ten thousand members committed to acting on climate change, and activist mayors have championed city action – Mike Bloomberg, my successor as chair of C40, was even made a special advisor to the United Nations secretary general, both in response to his superb contribution as mayor of New York and in acknowledgment of the importance of city governments in addressing the climate crisis.
We know that the actions outlined in this book work and are feasible at scale. At scale, they can go a very long way to getting the world on track to halve emissions by 2030. To do that, we need to act boldly and quickly. Now that the path has been cleared by the mayors of the world’s greatest cities, we need those outside the C40 – such as the ten thousand in the Global Covenant – to undertake the same high level of action. Sometimes this will require mayors to act, sometimes it will require other governments to remove barriers to action or to help them act, and sometimes business, labor, and civil society will help to make the change. We know what to do, and the barriers are not ones of technology – they are ones of choice. Will we choose to take effective actions today – actions that we know work because they work today in a major city somewhere in the world – before it is too late?
And that is where individuals come in. People often ask me, “What can I do?”
Here’s my answer.
Politically, climate action can be challenging. In the early days of the C40, some mayors were acting well ahead of the general consensus of residents of their cities. The pushback is strong from some segments of the fossil fuel industry – such as those who’ve funded communications campaigns for years to seed doubt about the science (despite the evidence) – which has often made it difficult to take effective climate action. Locally, even measures as simple and effective as adding bike lanes to a busy road can be controversial, and people who support the action must be heard too if the measures are to succeed. The impact of people speaking up can be seen by the rise of global youth movements, like Fridays for Future, whose collective voice has made taking bold climate action far easier, thereby empowering mayors and their city governments to act.
Your voice matters elsewhere as well. Does your employer have a climate plan? What has it done to lower emissions from transport? From buildings it owns or rents? From waste? Does it purchase only clean electricity? Does it have a plan to halve emissions by 2030? Is it actively greening workplaces? Is there an environmental committee at work?
These are all questions worth asking. I have spoken with numerous businesses, government agencies, and other organizations who’ve decided to act on climate change and I’ve asked them what motivated them. Uniformly, they mention that their employees demanded change – including new recruits during the interview process. Your voice matters, and collective voices have a massive impact.
Speak up closer to home as well. If you have a friend, neighbor, or relative who still denies the science or who minimizes the risk, speak up. We cannot let those false statements go unchallenged. It doesn’t have to be aggressive, but people need to hear from each other in defending what is right.
What can you do in your own life? The cliché is that actions speak louder than words. Think about your own life and what you can do to live better and lower your impact on the planet. For example, if you drive a car, do you need to? Can you take transit, walk, or ride? What about where you live? Is it energy efficient?
Are there steps you can take in your home to lower energy consumption from fossil fuels? Can you eat less meat? Create less waste? Fly much less?
My family and I are an example. We no longer own a car and we take transit or walk most of the time. We eat vegetarian meals on weekdays (my wife and daughter all the time), we try to buy less “stuff,” and we’ve taken steps to lower energy consumption in our house. All this has made a difference and helped us lower our impact on the planet, save money, and live more active and healthy lives.
Voting matters.
In the last national election in Canada, the central issue was climate change, and of the five parties elected to Parliament, four, including the governing Liberals, were committed to strong climate action. In North America, the main right-wing conservative parties – the Republicans in the United States and the Conservatives in Canada – have chosen to make climate change a partisan issue (given that the root of “conservative” is conserve, I have always found this to be strange). They don’t deserve your vote, nor do progressive politicians who say the right thing but don’t act. Do your research. Speak up. And reward climate leaders with your support.
The actions discussed in this book have the potential, if adopted at scale globally over the next few years, to put the world back on the path to avoid dangerous climate change. Science shows us that we’re running out of time to get on that path and must act now. Cities matter because these proven actions can be implemented while the world collectively grapples with some unanswered questions (such as whether we can remove carbon dioxide from the air) and unproven technologies needed to answer these questions (such as carbon capture at scale).
City-based climate action can make the difference we need now. Which is a good thing. Because not only can we address climate change today – we must.
David Miller
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
April 2020
***
As I finish writing, most of the world has been shut down due to COVID-19 and the measures needed to prevent its out-of-control spread. But the climate crisis hasn’t gone away; if anything, the underlying necessity to act is emphasized by this global pandemic. The importance of city-based solutions has been magnified by the impact of COVID-19, which has been most prevalent in large urban areas. And, like climate change, it has had a disproportionate impact on the least well off in society. Mayors, just as they have on climate, have been working together internationally to learn from each other about the very best ways to address the pandemic. Mayors have shared not only important lessons on response but also supplies of protective equipment, knowledge about testing, and much more. They have created a unique global collaboration on social and economic recovery from the pandemic.
The task they have set themselves is this: How do we, as the leaders of city governments, help lead a recovery that is low carbon, equitable, healthy, and prosperous? How do we use ideas and programs that create work and make our environment better as the basis for a recovery? How do we, as mayors, build these programs at scale in our cities, and how do we influence national and international stimulus programs so that they include these same values of equity, health, sustainability, and shared prosperity?
The mayors and the governments they lead are not waiting to act. Already, Paris, Milan, Seattle, and numerous other cities have made permanent a change to favor active transportation by closing roads to cars and using the space for cycling and walking, thus expediting the plans discussed in Chapter 6. And mayoral leadership has already resulted in national investments in clean public transport, with no doubt more initiatives to come.
Mayors will lead a low-carbon recovery from the pandemic, and that leadership can form the basis of a global economic and social recovery from COVID-19 that puts the world on a path to a low-carbon future. The actions of major cities as outlined in this book – on clean electricity, transport, buildings, and waste – can form the backbone of such a recovery, because they address not only climate but also jobs, equity, and urban quality of life. Those solutions should form the heart of the economic and social recovery needed from COVID-19 – and will show the world the path to solving the climate crisis.