122 cities make the climate action ‘A list’
Published by Cities Today on 21 November 2022 | Author: Sarah Wray
A total of 122 cities across the globe have been named as leaders in environmental action and transparency by CDP – a non-profit which runs an environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions.
The fifth annual A List recognises cities that have received the highest score for their transparency and action to mitigate and adapt to climate change. It comes following recent CDP data which showed that 80 percent of cities face ‘significant climate hazards’.
This year, for the first time, over 1,000 cities were scored by CDP, with just over one in ten cities scoring an A. These include London, Paris, San Francisco, Rio de Janeiro, Cape Town, Seoul and Melbourne.
Higher targets
To score an A, a city must disclose publicly through CDP-ICLEI Track, have a city-wide emissions inventory and have published a climate action plan. The scoring criteria for emissions reduction targets were strengthened to include a long-term target of becoming net zero by 2050 or a mid-term target that is aligned with a fair share of limiting global warming to 1.5˚C.
An A List city must also complete a climate risk and vulnerability assessment and have a climate adaptation plan in place.
For the first time, India has a city (Mumbai) on the A List and cities from other Global South nations have also made it onto the A List for the first time, including Lima, Peru; Quito, Ecuador; and Yaoundé IVth Commune, Cameroon. The Middle East also sees its debut A List cities – Amman, Jordan and Kadıköy, Turkey.
North America accounts for the largest share of cities (49) on the 2022 leaders list, followed by Europe, Asia, Latin America, Oceania and Africa.
The USA has the most A List cities of any one country and the UK nearly doubled the number of cities on the A List compared to 2021.
Growing momentum
According to CDP, A List cities report taking more than three times as many mitigation and adaptation measures as non-A List cities.
Maia Kutner, CDP Global Director of Cities, States and Regions, said: “The world, and its cities, need to go much further and faster in stepping up that action. Reporting environmental data is the first, crucial step to acting, as what gets measured, gets managed.
“This year’s A List shows the growing momentum in cities reporting their data and we hope that many more will join them in protecting our planet for future generations.”
CDP has four scoring bands for cities’ climate action: Disclosure (D/D-), Awareness (C/C-), Management (B/B-) and Leadership (A/A-). The organisation says that cities tend to improve their score over time but need more resources – especially those in developing countries.
Photo: Ben Goode | Dreamstime.com
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