Posts tagged with 'cities'
Without getting cities right, we cannot solve the climate crisis. Contributing to 75% of energy-related greenhouse gas emissions, it is impossible to overstate their central role. Cities’ choices influence and can drive change in every system that needs to be decarbonized ...
As COP26 is in full swing in Glasgow, countries worldwide have failed to reduce emissions in line with the Paris Agreement targets to limit global warming to 1.5°C. But cities are a bright spot. Many have developed climate action plans ...
U.S. cities and corporations recognize that renewable energy is the future. More than 200 U.S. local governments have committed to power their communities with 100% renewable energy, and more than 300 leading U.S. corporations have become members of the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance, ...
In 2020, cities found themselves on the frontlines of the battle against a new and fast-spreading virus that soon became a global pandemic. Even as some places reacted with smart and swift responses that allowed for a partial return to normalcy, ...
This year is the 75th anniversary of the United Nations – an institution created in the wake of World War II, when the world was looking to emerge from a tragic era filled with conflict and political and economic turmoil. ...
For years, city governments in the United States have taken the lead on committing to climate action, with more than 165 cities aiming for 100% community-wide clean energy. But whether ambitious goals translate to ambitious action is another question altogether, and ...
Corporations have driven much of the recent U.S. investment in renewable energy, collectively procuring more than 16 gigawatts of new capacity since 2014, enough to power roughly 5 million homes for a year. Commercial and industrial energy users represent more than 60% of U.S. ...
The largest and highest-consuming cities in the world have carbon footprints equal to those of small countries. This is the finding of a study surveying the carbon footprint of cities worldwide. Half the world’s population lives in cities, but just 100 cities ...
Mayors from cities across the U.S. are stepping up and committing to broad and inspirational action to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and decarbonize local energy systems. This leadership is especially critical given lack of federal climate action, but translating a ...
A huge challenge for growing cities is provision of core services and infrastructure. Every time a new neighborhood crops up, services like roads, water and sanitation, education, and health centers must be extended to cover new residents. In practice, cities ...
Municipal leaders face hundreds of difficult choices every day. With so many needs and worthy programs, how does one choose where to invest limited funding? In the face of pressing human needs, cities too often decide that funding for environmental ...
If you’re reading this, you are probably a city dweller. More than half of humanity lives in cities, and the percentage continues to grow. As more and more of us move from the rural landscapes our ancestors called home, we are particularly estranged ...
Across the world, it’s becoming clearer that development goals must be urban goals. As their populations and global connections grow, cities account for an ever-growing portion of the global economy. But despite their prominence, cities can’t do it alone. Local ...
Ultimately, the work on climate change is done on the ground and is up to each of us. That is why America’s Pledge on climate is so important, as former U.S. President Barack Obama told city leaders in Chicago last week at the inaugural Global ...
By the time the last gavel came down early in the morning of November 18, international climate negotiators in Bonn paved the way to the next climate summit in Katowice, Poland in 2018. There, the rules underpinning the Paris Agreement ...