Abby L. Harvey
GHG Monitor
9/25/2015
As world leaders prepare to negotiate a new global climate deal in December, it has become clear that meeting the commitments embedded in such an accord will be delegated largely to the world’s cities, Shelley Poticha, director of the Urban Solutions program with the Natural Resources Defense Council, told reporters this week.
“Cities really bear the brunt of the climate change crisis and their impacts. They are also the key to reaching global climate goals,” Poticha said. “Whatever international targets are agreed upon in Paris, it will actually fall on cities and their mayors to make these goals a reality. They’re the ground troops of this climate crisis.”
Paris is hosting the 21st Conference of the Parties (COP21) of the United Nation Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) in December. At that time, world leaders will negotiate a post-Kyoto climate deal, asking countries to commit to reducing greenhouse gas emissions in coming years. These pledges, termed Intended Nationally Determined Contributions (INDCs), are decided on the national level and then submitted to the UNFCCC. The United States has committed to reducing emissions by 26-28 percent below 2005 levels by 2025.
Because of global population distribution and consumption patterns, cities will be responsible for making much of the needed reductions, Poticha said. “Nearly 54 percent of all people on our planet, 3.8 billion people, live in cities. Collectively these cities account for more than 70 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions and two-thirds of the world’s energy use. So, it’s very clear that cities are going to be an important player in solving our climate problems.”
Cities have been answering the call to act on climate change in force. In fact, 15 U.S. cities made significant commitments to cut carbon emissions in the U.S.-China Climate Leaders’ Declaration, announced last week.
In the declarations, the city of Atlanta committed to reducing GHG emissions 20 percent by 2020, 40 percent by 2030, and 80 percent by 2040 from a 2009 baseline. Boston committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020, and 80 percent by 2050, from a 2005 baseline. Los Angeles committed to a 45 percent reduction in greenhouse gasses by 2025, 60 percent by 2030, and 80 percent by 2050, from a 1990 baseline. Seattle committed to being carbon neutral by 2050.
Other U.S. cities making commitments were Washington, D.C., Portland, Ore., Houston, Salt Lake City, New York City, Lancaster, Penn., Oakland, Calif., Carmel, Ind., Des Moines, Iowa, Phoenix, and San Francisco.
These kinds of commitments on the city level signal to other countries that the U.S. is capable of meeting its national goals, Poticha said. “By working with cities, by helping to really address their concerns, we really feel that’s the next step. It’s insufficient to simply say we’re going to cut carbon emissions. We need to provide the solutions that are going to help us get there.”
