Quantcast
Channel: healthier – Intelligent Living
Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 3

Carbon Emissions Falling In 30 Major Cities, But Globally It’s Rising

0
0

Peaking

Four years ago, nations signed the Paris Agreement – an international pact towards collectively reducing emissions to keep the rising temperature below 2 degrees. Since then, progress has been uneven around the world, and in some regions, discouraging.

Fortunately, not all places are doing a lousy job. On the contrary, some areas are an inspiration and a source of hope through their improvements. A recent report shows that 30 cities have achieved falling carbon emissions!

A coalition of cities known as C40 published the report just in time for its World Mayors Summit in Copenhagen. It details how Venice, Athens, Austin, and Lisbon are the latest among the 30 major cities which have managed to reduce their carbon emissions every year steadily.

Now, an updated version of their 2018 analysis identifies a handful of locations that hit their “peak” emissions (the point where emissions began to fall) before 2015. Since peaking, emissions have declined by at least 10%. Copenhagen hit its peak way back in 1999!

Michael Doust, Programme Director, Measurement and Planning at C40, explained more about the methodology for calculating and tracking peak greenhouse gas emissions:

We [C40] do this calculation on behalf of C40 cities. Our definition of peaking is that a city must have reduced [its] greenhouse gas emissions over a five-year period or longer and achieved at least a 10% reduction compared to its peak emissions.

 

We require a minimum of three GHG emissions inventories, and the latest emissions inventory must not be older than five years. These criteria ensure that a peak has not been reversed and that it is indicative of a long-term trend (as opposed to being due to inter-annual variabilities).

 

The 30 cities that we are announcing as having peaked, in fact, reached peak emissions in 2014 or before but we can only now confirm this.

30 Cities

The 30 cities together contain 58 million citizens. They represent a third of C40’s 94 members. C40 is a network of the world’s megacities – a coalition committed to working together towards the goals of limiting global warming and protecting the environment.

Green city art
Credit: Hélène Baum

The cities that have falling emissions are: Athens, Austin, Barcelona, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Copenhagen, Heidelberg, Lisbon, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Melbourne, Milan, Montréal, New Orleans, New York City, Oslo, Paris, Philadelphia, Portland, Rome, San Francisco, Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver, Venice, Warsaw, and Washington, D.C.

They have collectively curbed emissions by 22% on average. London, Berlin, and Madrid had the most significant reductions averaging around 30%. However, Copenhagen takes the cake with an impressive 61% reduction.

Some commendable progress made by C40 cities over the past ten years (since 2009) include:

  • Cycle hire schemes have gone up from 13 to 82.
  • Electric buses on the roads have gone up from less than 100 to over 66,000.
  • Cities with commitments to achieve 100% renewable electricity by 2030 have gone from 4 to 24.
  • Cities with bans or restrictions of single-use, non-recyclable plastics have gone from 2 to 18.
  • Cites with restrictions (that affect most of the city) on high-polluting vehicles have gone up from 3 to 17.

Mark Watts, executive director of C40 Cities, said:

The C40 cities that have reached peak emissions are raising the bar for climate ambition, and at the same time exemplifying how climate action creates healthier, more equitable and resilient communities.

 

But this is nothing to win medals for – emissions across the whole world need to stop rising and start falling within the next year if we are to keep global heating below 1.5 degrees.

Deadline

carbon emissions falling in 30 major cities

Global carbon emissions have to peak by 2020. Calculations by scientists show that if they don’t, the global temperature will rise beyond 1.5 degrees, thus breaking the Paris Agreement. Only 30 of the world’s largest cities have reached this milestone already. There are only three months left for the rest of the world to peak in time to avert catastrophe.

Four years ago, almost 200 countries signed the Paris Agreement, and today the world is still far from meeting the goals agreed upon that day. In 2018, global emissions hit a record high. While global emissions only continue to rise, we are set to miss the 2020 deadline.

The United Nations calls 2020 the “climate turning point” because it’s when every city must reach peak emissions. If not, there will be irreversible consequences. The next deadline will be 2030 when all cities have to have halved their greenhouse gas emissions.

The post Carbon Emissions Falling In 30 Major Cities, But Globally It’s Rising appeared first on Intelligent Living.


Viewing all articles
Browse latest Browse all 3

Latest Images

Trending Articles





Latest Images