Posts tagged with 'Mayors'
After a Tumultuous 2024, What’s Next for Cities?
After a Tumultuous 2024, What’s Next for Cities?
2024 has been a tumultuous year: More than half the world’s population went to the ballot box — some voting for radical change — extraordinary weather events have devastated communities and countries have been rocked by continued violent conflict. Given ...
The Urban20 Summit in Rio and the Importance of Subnational-National Collaboration
The Urban20 Summit in Rio and the Importance of Subnational-National Collaboration
As the first week of COP29 drew to a close with intense debates on climate financing and ambitious targets, and just days before the G20 Leaders’ Summit, another international forum turned Rio de Janeiro into the epicenter of discussions on ...
Europe’s Cities Should Prepare for Hotter, More Hazardous Days Ahead
Europe’s Cities Should Prepare for Hotter, More Hazardous Days Ahead
Europe is the world’s fastest warming continent, which is severely impacting cities and leading to tens of thousands of deaths, rising hospitalizations, school closures and people adjusting their lives to avoid inhospitable outdoor conditions.  The oppressive heat is being felt across the ...
A Community Program Is Transforming New York Schoolyards Into Climate-Resilient Spaces
A Community Program Is Transforming New York Schoolyards Into Climate-Resilient Spaces
In Brooklyn, one of New York City’s five boroughs, a new schoolyard features newly-planted native trees offering shade and bright playground equipment that sits adjacent to a track and turf field. Colorful murals celebrating the diversity of its Boreum Hill ...
Unique and Irreplaceable Cities Making the Urban Amazon Visible
Unique and Irreplaceable Cities Making the Urban Amazon Visible
Amazonian cities are diverse in opportunities and needs. The region’s biodiversity is among the world’s most important, but its cities’ sustainability challenges are less well-known. These jurisdictions require financial support and capacity building to create sustainable, conservation-oriented, equitable, urban green ...
Next-Generation Climate Targets: A 5-Point Plan for NDCs
Next-Generation Climate Targets: A 5-Point Plan for NDCs
By early 2025, countries are due to unveil new national climate commitments under the Paris Agreement, known as nationally determined contributions (NDCs). These commitments form the foundation of international climate action, establishing emissions-reduction targets and other measures that countries promise ...
Unpacking COP28: Key Outcomes from the Dubai Climate Talks, and What Comes Next
Unpacking COP28: Key Outcomes from the Dubai Climate Talks, and What Comes Next
The COP28 climate talks began with a new fund to address the increasingly severe losses and damage vulnerable countries face from climate impacts and concluded with the first international agreement to tackle climate change’s main driver: fossil fuels. Those bookends to the Dubai summit ...
Learnings from the G7 Roundtable on Subnational Climate Actions
Learnings from the G7 Roundtable on Subnational Climate Actions
With recognition of the vital role of both subnational and national governments in the climate agenda, the G7 Roundtable on Subnational Climate Actions was established by the G7 Climate, Energy and Environment Ministers Meeting in 2023 under the presidency of Japan. The ...
Southeast Asian Cities Have Some of the Most Polluted Air in the World. El Niño Is Making it Worse
Southeast Asian Cities Have Some of the Most Polluted Air in the World. El Niño Is Making it Worse
Residents of Jakarta, Indonesia woke up on August 31, 2023, to a thick blanket of haze and news that their city was again ranked the most polluted in the world — one of many times during the last several months when air quality became ...
How Cities are Leading in the Fight Against Plastic Pollution
How Cities are Leading in the Fight Against Plastic Pollution
“Plastic kills, and the damages of plastic pollution have no borders. We cannot beat plastic pollution if we don’t tackle climate change, environmental loss and food crises at the same time.”  That was the powerful message Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo ...
Cities Are Surprising Leaders in Forest Conservation
Cities Are Surprising Leaders in Forest Conservation
The world’s forests face a dire threat. Each year, 6 to 9 million hectares (15 to 22 million acres, an area roughly the size of Denmark) of forests are permanently cleared and many millions more are degraded. But many decisions affecting forests ...
Accelerating Climate Policy Is Simply Good Public Policy
Accelerating Climate Policy Is Simply Good Public Policy
As countries are raising their ambitions in advance of COP26 in Glasgow, more and more attention is turning to the role cities can play in addressing climate change. For urban residents, this is not an academic discussion. As the planet ...
More Bicycles, Slower Speeds, a More Livable City: Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo Plans an Ambitious Second Term
More Bicycles, Slower Speeds, a More Livable City: Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo Plans an Ambitious Second Term
With her recent re-election, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo (Editor’s note: no relation to the author) has won a mandate to continue profound mobility transformations in the French capital. Her re-election manifesto promises an even more ambitious second term, furthering her efforts over ...
Mayors: Don’t Let Food Waste Be a Wasted Opportunity
Mayors: Don’t Let Food Waste Be a Wasted Opportunity
An Open Letter to the World’s Mayors: Welcome to Chicago! As you gather this week at a major climate summit, I hope you will make the most of your time in one of the world’s best food cities. Try the ...
Measuring Climate Success with New Common Reporting Framework for Cities
Measuring Climate Success with New Common Reporting Framework for Cities
The UN climate conference in Bonn, Germany, has highlighted the importance of sub-national actors to translating commitment to action and meeting global climate goals. But as more non-state actors pledge action, how do we measure success? What is sustainability? What is ...
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