Cities are the battlefield where the climatic contest will be won or lost

“Cities are the place where the climate battle will largely be won or lost,” the United Nations Secretary-General said in Copenhagen on Friday at the World Summit of Mayors, known as C40, a network of cities committed to the fight against climate change.

António Guterres reminded the corregidores of the burden that weighs on their shoulders due to the “enormous climate footprint” that cities emit, their high energy consumption – more than two-thirds worldwide – and their responsibility for more than 70% of global _CO2 emissions.

“The decisions made about urban infrastructure in the coming decades – construction, housing, energy efficiency, power generation and transport – will have a huge influence on the emissions curve. Therefore, I am delighted to address a group committed to the transformation we need in our world,” he applauded.

Despite being hopeful about the impact they can exert, since “you are the first to respond to the climate emergency”, he acknowledged that it represents a threat to the viability of human communities and that it is therefore necessary to stabilize the average temperature of the planet at 1.5 degrees.

“To achieve this, we must reduce (carbon dioxide) emissions by at least 45% by 2030 and achieve climate neutrality by 2050 … however, the current national climate action plans do not bring us anywhere near these goals. We are heading for a catastrophic increase of 3 degrees or more.”

A situation that could be reversed since, according to Guterres, we currently have the “knowledge, the technology” and we have the “resources” to respond to the climate emergency and promote sustainable development, but what is still lacking is the “political will” in many areas.

Precisely for that reason he said he had convened the recent Climate Action Summit in New York where he recalled that more than 70 countries committed to reduce net carbon dioxide emissions by 2050 but, and stressed the importance of that but, the main emitters have not yet done so.

“There are still large parts of the world addicted to coal. There are still an absolutely unacceptable number of new coal-fired power plants planned for the coming years, especially in Asia, but also a few in other parts of the world, although it must be acknowledged that here in Europe, several countries have already decided to phase out coal soon.”

You have to seize the moment

Guterres recalled that during that forum 70 countries and 100 cities announced their intention to improve their national plans for 2020, although without specifying their nationally determined contributions, and thanked the contributions made by many of the members of the C40 network during the meeting.

Therefore, and given the leadership and speed with which cities, companies and society are currently moving in relation to governments, he stressed the importance of continuing to exert the greatest possible pressure on administrations to achieve carbon neutral emissions by 2050.

“To change the emissions curve, nations must continue to increase their climate ambition and come up with new and better national climate action plans for 2020.”

And a central role, he said, will be played by mayors since in the year 2050 almost seven out of ten people will live in urban areas and more than 90% of this growth will take place in developing countries.

“Without climate-friendly urban planning, the consequences will be profound,” he said; To then thank several initiatives led by the C40 network such as the recent commitment of fourteen cities to sustainable food policies in response to the climate emergency, including Barcelona, Guadalajara and Lima.

“Food consumption is responsible for 13% of greenhouse gas emissions in C40 cities, and the consumption of meat and dairy products accounts for 75% of that total,” he said.

Finally, Guterres called for the leadership of mayors in several areas of action such as the coordination of their procedures in infrastructure, spatial planning and urban planning, transport systems, waste disposal and investments in relation to the Paris Agreement, the New Urban Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals.

Source: United Nations