C40: Changing the Urban Landscape
C40 is a global network of cities, joined by a commitment to addressing and limiting climate change. The foundation of the network is the belief that communication and collaboration on a regional and global scale is the only way we will succeed in making a meaningful move in the direction of sustainability and in efforts to prevent a climate catastrophe.
C40 connects Mayors from 97 cities from all over the world, with an even split of representation for the north and south, to develop policies and pathways that seek to both prevent global warming, but also mitigate and prepare to aid survival against changes that are already occurring or inevitable. These 97 cities represent over 700 million people and a quarter of the global economy.
Main aims of C40 cities include remaining committed to the most ambitious goals outlined within the Paris agreement, including limiting the global rise in temperature to only 1.5 degrees and cleaning the air we breathe. They intend to do this by encouraging changes on a local level, as they recognise that while cities are a major source of global greenhouse gas emissions they also act as hubs of education and technological advances and therefore have a huge scope for innovation and positive change. Another mission of theirs is to halve the collective carbon emissions of member cities within a decade, while also making sure strategies that will lead to improved climate resilience are being implemented ready for the future. The recent introduction of a Global Green New Deal in 2021 intends to speed progress towards net zero carbon cities by encouraging Mayors to work with representatives from labour, business, youth climate movements and civil society.
One of the aspects of C40 that makes it so innovative is its understanding of the benefits of city-to-city communication when trying to implement changes and policies that are most efficient when comparing impacts to both cost and time. The intention of this is that when a pioneering city makes significant progress in their pathway to becoming net zero carbon other cities will be given the knowledge necessary to replicate their actions. This provision of free advice from word-leading experts in a variety of fields to cities who require it means less time and money is wasted on mistakes. Combining this with the positive pressure of constantly rising standards coming from other member cities, C40 believes this will allow them to accelerate climate action. They also encourage mayors to prioritise equity and inclusion through all aspects of their procedures, recognising that certain groups are at risk of being left behind and aiming to distribute the many benefits of a society focussed on sustainability throughout all city dwellers.
Membership
The group is governed by a Steering Committee - a group of 16 mayors who fully represent the geographical spread of the member cities. This committee is elected by all member Mayors and has included Mayor of London Sadiq Khan since 2016. The current Chair of the network is Mayor of Los Angeles Eric Garcetti, who has the power to select the Chair of the Board of Directors. This is a group of sustainability experts who oversee the operation of the entirety of C40 Cities between them.
Admission to C40 Cities networks is performance-based and must be earned through demonstration of commitments to their key values and actions that are developing positive change. The membership criteria are set by the Steering Committee of mayors, and if they are not met the city is forced to leave. This allows for highly ambitious goals to be set globally, for example in 2020 it became a formal requirement for cities to be able to illustrate significant actions being taken and prove that these will help lead to global warming being reduced to 1.5 degrees.
Research
Research carried out by C40 forms a huge database providing previously scarce information on climate action by cities and improves understanding on how city governments can deliver reduced emissions and climate resilience based on scientific evidence of success and failure. C40 Research, Measurement and Planning utilises the database of actions, extensive partnerships, and organisational insight to demonstrate the impacts that cites can have in efforts to reduce climate change. It also produces tools, standards and frameworks that support cities and allow them to implement the most impactful mitigation strategies. They are committed to turning this theoretical evidence based planning into actual implementation of solutions. Their research spans a broad range of topics across the whole scope of sustainability and climate science, including how to define carbon neutrality in cites, development of case studies in examples of circular economies and improving public health in cities through climate action. A high importance is also placed on the analysis of trends to identify opportunities for further action within the networks, and therefore help prioritise C40 initiatives that have the potential for the largest positive impact.
Networks
The mechanism that C40 cities use to allow them prioritise communication and collaboration are a series of networks that provide a range of services spanning a range of topics. Their purpose is to connect city practitioners and mayors around the world who are all facing similar challenges based on their location and structure. There are currently 16 active networks working on topics regarding mitigation, adaptation and sustainability that have been deemed to have the highest priority or largest potential impact.
The networks allow for collaborative innovation, but also aid cities in imitation of others' success to accelerate climate action. City practitioners can request, and offer advice globally, and share any challenges they face that others are likely to come up against. The networks also provide a platform to showcase and celebrate a cities success, to be used to inspire others as well as inform them. Mayors facing specific or niche problems can quickly be linked to experts anywhere in the world to help them act as a collective. Having a group of highly influential cities all focussing on specific issues can provide enough backing for significant national and international policy change to place emphasis on sustainability. The networks can be split into the following five key initiatives:
Adaptation implementation
Air quality
Energy and buildings
Food, waste, and water
Transportation and urban planning
The utilisation of these networks has already been proven to yield results. 1/3 of all climate actions reported to the committee by member cities were directly influenced by collaborations of this kind. Furthermore, 70% of all member cities have implemented improved climate actions that are as a result of their participation within one or more of the present networks.
Programmes
C40 also provides member cities with access to a range of programmes with the purpose of supplementing the work of the more formally arranged networks. These offer additional services to give city officials working together access to a range of holistic support to address key barriers to their city’s climate action. The programmes have the flexibility to evolve along with the changing needs of members and can vary in specificity from direct support to a location to access to data or partnered efforts in finance, city diplomacy and inclusive climate actions. Currently, the programmes cover the following areas:
City finance
City intelligence
Diplomacy
Direct support
Measurement planning
Programmes, business and innovation
Special projects
C40 and COVID-19
Despite global shutdown in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic, C40 are not relaxing any of their goals and are adamant that their ambitions have not changed. Instead, they are seeing the events of the past year as a demonstration of how quickly we can respond to global emergencies when we rely on both science and global collaboration, basically proving the theories at the core of their operation correct.
During 2020, C40 Mayors implemented a Green and Just Recovery Agenda, seeking to seize the opportunity to create a better-world post-pandemic rather than return to the way things were before. The agenda calls for global governments to place priority on fairness as well as sustainability when offering aid and stimulus. The Case for Green and Just Recovery Report released in October 2020 commissioned by the mayoral task force provided information showing cities the impact of disregarding carbon goals in stimulus and returning to normal, versus a low-carbon option and showed how health and jobs could benefit from this kind of recovery as well as carbon emissions. For example, Green and Just could create over 50 million sustainable jobs in C40 cities by 2025, over a third more than if investments were channelled into a high carbon recovery. The agenda seeks to improve resilience to both health emergencies and climate change, working collectively and providing equal opportunities in recovery.
Throughout the pandemic, the collaborative networks formed by C40 were utilised for the transferal of Covid specific knowledge, as well as the usual subjects. An example of this is that a general focus of the food systems network is to inform on and encourage lower carbon options for bulk food provisions, such as in schools or hospitals. During the pandemic the groups that were considered vulnerable and in need of food provision changed, and so the exchange of information changed to reflect this and help cities meet their citizens' needs in as sustainable a way as possible. Connections made through this system were also sometimes used for direct support, such as the distribution of PPE. As a direct result of these efforts, in December of 2020 it became a formal membership requirement of C40 Cities to take responsibility to provide for other cities in a crisis when requested.
Overall, C40’s focus on prioritising collaborative efforts when taking climate action provides a new way of approaching the climate crisis and may be able to set in motion the drastic measures needed to avoid catastrophe. The aims of Shade the UK are in keeping with the aspirations of C40, as we also highly value sustainability. C40 places a high importance on the health and wellbeing of member city citizens, particularly the vulnerable, and aims to aid these people in as environmentally friendly a manner as possible. This is a key focus of Shade the UK. Improving the knowledge and awareness of shading and other passive forms of cooling for buildings and focussing on sustainably sourced materials would help London on its journey to becoming net zero carbon as we will be less reliant on energy for air conditioning. Shade the UK could potentially benefit from involvement in collaborations like the networks used by C40, particularly to gain advice from organisations in countries currently dealing with climates similar to what the UK could reach in the future.