The analysis includes reviews of comprehensive new plans from 14 cities - Montreal, Vancouver, Buenos Aires, Curitiba, Guadalajara, Medellin, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, São Paulo, Mexico City, Milan, Lisbon, Dakar, and Johannesburg.
C40’s research reveals that efforts by these cities will prevent at least 1.9 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from being released into the atmosphere between 2020 and 2030, equivalent to half the combined annual emissions of the EU’s 27 member states.
The new analysis was presented recently by Mark Watts, C40’s executive director, at an event hosted by Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo to mark five years since the signing of the Paris Climate Agreement.
Cities with climate action plans reviewed by C40’s Deadline 2020 programme and confirmed as having science-based targets consistent with the Paris Agreement goals include:
Los Angeles, Boston, Houston, New York City, Portland, Seattle, and Washington DC, USA; Vancouver and Montreal, Canada; Mexico City and Guadalajara, Mexico; Curitiba, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador and São Paulo, Brazil; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Medellin, Colombia; Melbourne, Australia; Stockholm, Sweden; Oslo, Norway; Copenhagen, Denmark; Barcelona, Spain; Paris, France; London, UK; Amsterdam and Rotterdam, the Netherlands; Milan, Italy; Lisbon; Portugal; Accra, Ghana; Durban and Johannesburg, South Africa; and Dakar, Senegal.
Amongst the details contained in the climate plans reviewed by C40 are the following:
Hidalgo, who hosted the event at Paris City Hall, said: "I was chair of C40 Cities when Deadline 2020 was set, challenging global cities to set their own climate action plan that will protect residents, create green jobs, address inequality and build the future we want. Now, five years on from the Paris Climate Agreement, I am proud to see so many cities from all over the world launch their plans to keep global temperature rises below 1.5°C. This marks an important milestone in our efforts to accelerate climate action and demonstrates the incredible leadership from cities on this issue."