C40 and Arup Win Prestigious MCA Award

At the Management Consultancies Association (MCA) Award Ceremony in London last night, C40 and Arup won the top prize in the environment category for their work in producing the landmark Climate Action in Megacities report. C40’s Rishi Desai and Arup’s Mark Watts accepting the Environment Award.

“This award is a great honor not only for the strong and longstanding partnership between C40 and Arup, but also for C40 Cities. C40’s commitment to continued collaboration with trusted partners, such as Arup, in delivering city-led, data-driven climate actions have made this significant achievement possible.” said Rishi Desai, a director in C40’s research team and a lead author of the Climate Action in Megacities report.

Out of a pool of more than 100 candidates, the C40-Arup team were recognized for the strongest demonstration of best practice in delivering a project – and for the greatest value and impact created by a project. A rigorous and phased judging process assessed criteria including: commitment to high quality and professionalism; application of skills and knowledge; and achievement of measurable and qualitative results.

“We are delighted that our relationship with the C40 allows us to do work that chimes with our mission to shape a better world. To be recognised in this way by the consulting industry for doing so is a win-win,” said Mark Watts, Director, Energy and Climate Consulting, Arup.

The Climate Action in Megacities report, announced in June 2011, is the first-ever comprehensive, comparable analysis of climate-related actions underway in the world’s megacities, providing both proof of action by cities and an expression of opportunity to do more. It enables C40 Cities to set targets, evaluate actions and access resources; and informs the strategic direction of the C40 organization, helping C40 to identify and connect cities with similar profiles and agendas.

The MCA Award bolsters C40 and Arup’s continued efforts to produce the strong data and analysis that underpins effective climate action planning and management.

To read a summary of the C40 and Arup’s winning entry, please click here.

Cities to highlight action at Rio+20

Jay Carson, Executive Director of C40, was recently featured in the leading Brazilian newspaper O Globo, talking about C40’s plans for the upcoming Rio+20 Summit in Brazil.

Carson said during the interview that the planned C40-led event occurring parallel to Rio+20 on June 19, and in partnership with the City of Rio de Janeiro, “will lead to concrete actions” on climate change mitigation and adaptation.

In the article, Carson also highlighted the distinction between the Rio +20 conference – and the C40 event’s focus on the nexus between climate issues and sustainability. He explained, “What cities do is much more concrete, more practical. We act locally, while the Rio +20 discusses broader issues. You can touch and see what cities are doing to create a more sustainable and better world...”

Research shows that more than half of the world’s population now lives in cities, consuming two thirds of the global energy produced and accounting for 70 percent of carbon emissions. As these population numbers increase, C40 is working with cities to make our urban future more sustainable.

Read the full article here and check out some of the C40 News Team’s previous coverage of Rio+20 here.

Cities Today Magazine Features C40 Participation and Stories

Today marks the release of Cities Today magazine, formerly known as United Cities magazine. A global publication for senior decision-makers in urban development, the April 2012 issue on urban mobility and sustainable transport explores a key focus of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group. 

C40 Director Mike Marinello serves on the editorial advisory board of the magazine, along with representatives from other leading organizations including the International Society of City and Regional Planners (ISOCARP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), ICLEI, UN-HABITAT, Federation of Latin American Cities, Municipalities and Associations (FLACMA), and United Cities and Local Governments Asia-Pacific  (UCLG-ASPAC.) 

“Cities Today is a great tool for connecting key stakeholders in urban development from around the world,” said Marinello. “C40 is a network, grounded in the belief that cities, while leading the way on climate change efforts, have much to share and learn from each other. And in the end we all benefit greatly from increased dialogue with and better understanding of all types of stakeholders — from both the public and private sectors.”   

The Urban Mobility issue of Cities Today focuses on how people and products move through cities, and how we can create more efficient, livable cities through transportation improvements and innovation. C40’s work is highlighted in two articles: “Should electric vehicles be a priority for cities?” which highlights insights on developments in London from C40 Director of Global Programs Terri Wills, and Bogota from C40 City Director in Bogota, Manuel Olivera; the article  “How bus rapid transit can offer workers a better quality of life,” features a section on C40’s Hybrid & Electric Bus Test Program. 

As urban populations increase, the challenge of maintaining mobility in an effective and energy efficient manner will also increase. Through initiatives on bus technology, electric vehicles and infrastructure, as well as non-motorized transport like bicycle networks, C40 works actively with C40 cities across the globe to identify and develop innovative solutions. 

Read more about C40’s work on electric vehicles in Bogota here and our Hybrid Bus Test Program work here. 

BRT on the Move

Bus rapid transit (BRT) is gaining momentum as a sustainable public transportation solution for cities around the world. Today, the energy trade publication ClimateWire published an article highlighting the rapid expansion of BRT networks, which now operate in approximately 134 global cities and serve 22 million passengers each day.

Just last week, EMBARQ, the Across Latitudes and Cultures – Bus Rapid Transit Centre of Excellence and the International Energy Agency (IEA) launched a new, global database at BRTdata.org to encourage data-sharing on the different BRT innovations that cities are testing, as well as how these are being implemented as integrated systems. According to ClimateWire:

“Creators of BRTdata.org sought to improve the quality and impact of the BRT industry by providing city planners with accessible data on the design, functionality and cost of these systems.”

The ClimateWire article highlighted the success of BRT across geographies and economies. Latin American cities move nearly 12 million passengers per day (that’s more than half of BRT passengers globally). Cities in developing nations, particularly in Asia, have followed suit; while those in Europe and North America have adopted BRT as well. In fact, Austin, Texas was just awarded a $38 million grant by the Federal Transit Administration to help build a new 37.5 mile bus system.

Taken together, the expansion of BRT around the world can result in major reductions in carbon emissions. According to ClimateWire:

Increased bus usage, and BRT specifically, can significantly increase mobility, reduce transportation costs and cut carbon emissions, [Tali] Trigg [energy analyst with the IEA] said.

In a new analysis, the IEA found that if BRT were established in the world's 1,000 largest cities, it would reduce carbon dioxide emissions by up to 0.5 metric gigatons between 2010 and 2050, which is equivalent to one-sixth of all carbon dioxide reductions that can be achieved in the transportation sector, he said.

ClimateWire is subscription only, but subscribers can read the full text here.

Expert Voices: Jane Henley, Chief Executive, World Green Building Council

Jane Henley reports on the C40 Workshop Sustainable Communities: Collaborating, Planning, Delivering, convened and hosted by the City of Melbourne, Australia...

Last week during the C40 Sustainable Communities Workshop, the architect and professor Jan Gehl, of Copenhagen described cities that work as “nodes of density centred along public transport and cycle ways like a string of pearls”.  Jan’s vision was just one of many as representatives from seventeen of the world’s largest cities gathered this week in Melbourne, to share and learn from each other with the goal of advancing their own city’s sustainability vision.

Turning cities laid out like sprawling spider webs into strings of pearls may be the desire of some, while others are focused on issues such as how they overcome the barriers to decentralised energy. Still others were keen to explore how cities could partner more effectively with the local community to ensure cities are designed not just for transport and buildings, but rather as people-centric spaces.

In his video address to the gathering, C40 chair, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg delivered a strong message that while nations drag their feet, city leaders are going to act because they are the closest to the people and have a responsibility to focus on issues of climate change.

Melbourne’s Lord Mayor Robert Doyle hosted the C40 workshop, emphasising the power and value of collaboration and partnerships. This approach was embodied throughout the week, particularly in the inclusion of industry partners such as Lend Lease and NGOs such as the World Green Building Council..  By working together, we can share successes, identify gaps and focus on the actions that will add real value.

The green building council movement has gained much traction because it empowers building industry leaders while setting new benchmarks for best practice. As an industry initiative, experts within the building sector have defined these voluntary benchmarks for best practice to sit well above building code requirements. A number of the cities at the C40 Workshop in Melbourne last week highlighted the complementary relationship between minimum building code standards and voluntary best practice benchmarks, arguing that they are enabling sustainability to become much more widely accepted within the built environment community.

Green building councils have also played an important role in providing education and professional training, developing the capacity of building industry leaders to set and implement the highest standards of building energy efficiency in many countries. It is clear that when a city has the support of industry through groups such as green building councils, they are able to implement new and progressive policy that benefits the city on a macro economic scale, but also to create jobs and help businesses to save money.  As an example, the California Energy Commission estimates that since building and appliance standards were implemented in the 1970s, these alone have saved residents and businesses US$56 billion through to 2003, and are projected to save an additional $23 billion by 2013.

The World Green Building Council network, with organisations in 90 countries and over 25,000 companies, brings a strong and supportive voice to the table for city officials and politicians. Our goal is to continually promote the highest common denominator and empower companies to make smart business decisions that deliver value to their shareholders, the community and benefit the planet we live on through more efficient use of energy and water resources.

The World Green Building Council’s motto has been ‘one building at a time’ – and this philosophy has provided a good foundation.  During the past decade, we’ve proved the business case for green building, developed new products and processes, and built capacity and knowledge all over the world.  Now it’s time to integrate the work done on the ground with good policy to ensure we get much better outcomes – for our buildings, for our cities and for the people who live and work in them.

We are excited to be exploring ways we can walk hand-in-hand with C40 Cities to support their work and build on the depth of expertise within our green building community.

In the coming months, C40 looks forward to working with the World Green Building Council to identify ways to support these collaborative efforts between local government practitioners and private sector building owners.