Cities Climate Action Summit 2024 live blog

The mayors discuss their climate priorities. Justin, Mayor of Cleveland, explains that the city has a history of climate issues, citing the fire on the Cuyahoga river in 1969. Justin explains the city is committed to investing in green jobs and it has a raft of green initiatives in place, including a free citizen solar panel. Meanwhile, Fort Collins’ Mayor Jeni Arndt highlights some of the extreme weather hazards to have hit the city and says it did its first climate action plan in 1999. She referenced programmes like a 100 per cent electrification goals for City power by 2030 but stresses: "I don’t want to leave anyone behind." Cambridge City Councillor Patricia Nolan highlights that 80 per cent of her City’s emissions are from building operations so a priority is to reduce these. "We tried the carrot but we need a mindset change, we need the stick. We need mandates."

We have arrived at our final session and it promises to provide a fitting finale for such an action-packed day one of SmartCitiesWorld’s Cities Climate Action Summit. Sandra Baer is moderating the discussion with Jeni Arndt, Mayor, Fort Collins; Patricia Nolan, City Councillor, City of Cambridge; and Justin Bibb, Mayor, City of Cleveland, Ohio.

Remember, you can access all of today’s content in your own time, on-demand by registering here.

Work with the City of Amsterdam showed how big the carbon savings could be and what impact it would have on the city’s carbon footprint. Stockholm and Zurich are among the cities mentioned as active in carbon removal but few have formal carbon dioxide removal (CDR) plans in place. The forthcoming research report aims to show how cities can advance CDR plans. Christiaan says cities need to understand the different pathways for engagement and how CDR can be leveraged to achieve a range of city goals. "They should see CDR not as an additional burden but rather as an impact multiplier." 

Most cities aren’t yet thining about carbon removal but it will become a critical piece of the climate action puzzle. Nikki explains that carbon removal is many things but at its core it involves removing carbon dioxide from air and ocean. She talks about emerging methods such as air capture, growing algae and carbon mineralisation and in future there will be a ’menu’ of options for cities. The innovation landscape for carbon removal is ’burgeoning’ says Chrsitiaan.

Now we have a fireside chat focused on carbon removal. We’d like to welcome Nikki Batchelor, Executive Director of XPRIZE Carbon Removal, who is in conversation with Christiaan Gevers Deynoot, South Pole, City CDR Lead. They will delve into the challenges and opportunities for cities in advancing carbon removal in synergy with other city priorities. They will be sharing insights from a soon to be published report by South Pole, XPRIZE and the Global Carbon Removal Partnership.

Carl says we need to add ’P’ for people and highlights the importance of looking in the long-term so ’projects’ survive and PPPs are vital in this. Mark said Tallinn is taking a ’contractual’ approach with the partner required to fulfil their contractual obligations and then the hope is a small project can scale-up. But he also acknowledges that it is possible an innovation project might be two years ahead of its time. Catalytic funding was also cited as having a role in helping to scale-up projects.

Panellists were asked how citizens feel about their area becoming a testbed. Johan says part of being a community relies on selflessness but you can also unite people against the common enemy of global warming. Carl explains Stockholm started by searching who could be the owners of a problem or solution, and cited one example where tenant-owners were identified as they all wanted to lower energy for their tenants -- they succeeded in doing this by 50 per cent. He explains they are exploring the possibility of developing a ’climate contract’ for citizens as its next pilot project. The discussion moves to the importance of transparency and consultancy and making citizens part of the success story.

The panellists discuss some of the challenges of running living labs in cities. Test in Tallinn has been a notable success for the city and Mark said the most critical challenge to address is time. City officials are extremely busy so they try to involve them at a creative level. Carl concurs with the time issue and Johan says with multiple stakeholders, the need to ensure there is an owner of an outcome is really important. Nalin cites cities being risk averse and also startups speaking a very different language as among the challenges.

Next up is another panel discussion: From air pollution to urban heat islands – using data to identify and correct climate inequities in communities. We welcome our spoeakers: Carlos Evans,  Director, Office of Environmental Quality & Sustainability, City of Dallas, Galen Treuer, Climate Tech and Economic Innovation Manager, Miami-Dade County; and Marc Coudert, Climate Resilience & Adaptation Manager, City of Austin.

Remember, you can also comment and follow the discussion on #CCAS24.

To find out more about Braga’s drive to be a green and smart city and access all of today’s content, register here. It will also enable you to see Sandra Baer’s fascinating interview with Paula DiPerna, author of Pricing the Priceless. Paula is a pioneer of strategic global environmental and philanthropic policy. She serves as a Special Advisory to CDP, on the Board of Advisors of Global Kids, whose mission is to develop global citizenship; the Circle of Advisors of Rachel’s Network, which links women philanthropists who have environmental interests; and the Board of Directors of The HistoryMakers, a unique oral and video archive of profiles of African-American leaders in all sectors.

As a leader in the development of carbon markets, Paula served formerly as President of the international division of the Chicago Climate Exchange (CCX), the world’s first cap-and-trade system covering all six greenhouse gases, which also launched the Tianjin Climate Exchange (TCX), China’s first pilot carbon market. She also served formerly as President of the Joyce Foundation, a major US philanthropy, and as a writer, co-producer and Vice President for International Affairs for the Cousteau Society, whose principal was oceans pioneer Jacques-Yves Cousteau, with whose expeditions she travelled around the world.

The city has also developed a number of urban farms, which brings generations together, and a range of inclusive mobility initiatives. Given the long-term implications of climate change, an intergenerational approach underpins many of its initiatives.

Mike begins by asking the panellists how sensors can facilitate targeted environmental interventions.

We come to our first panel discussion of the afternoon: Establishing sensor networks for environmental monitoring to track climate action progress, moderated by Michael Lake, president and CEO of Leadings Cities. Mike is joined by: Aissata Camara, Deputy Commissioner for Policy & Strategic Initiatives/Chief of Staff, New York City; James Nowlan, Executive Director, Environment and Energy Division, City of Toronto, Jaromir Beranek, Deputy of the Prague City Assembly, City of Prague and Theis Hybschmann Petersen.

The panellists are discussing the transformative potential of sensor networks in urban environments for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of climate action initiatives. 

Anna adds that advocacy is also a key aspect of city cooperation and says networks have pushed for recognition of city leadership in institutional frameworks, significantly impacting EU policies on environmental, mobility, energy, and competition issues. She holds up the EU Mission for Climate-Neutral and Smart Cities as a notable example, which aims to support 100 cities in achieving climate neutrality by 2030.

In conclusion, in an increasingly complex world, Anna’s philosophy is that cooperation and sharing are the keys to creating a better world and this collaborative approach is essential not only for our survival on this planet but also for our ability to thrive.

Anna shares her insights on the importance of cooperation, particularly in climate action, which must be a collaborative effort. She says collaboration is in her ‘DNA’ and it is about “caring” as well as sharing. She says she has witnessed first-hand how vital city collaboration has become -- initially, it was seen as a luxury, but now it is essential for cities’ success and a powerful tool for democratising national and international policymaking, especially in the EU.

She highlights how despite differences, cities share common challenges and says: while nations may engage in conflicts, cities often lead the way in cooperation, finding solutions across borders, citing the pandemic as an example. Anna says city leadership is crucial when it comes to climate action, She explains how cities are stepping up to provide the public sector leadership often lacking at regional and national levels. She holds up networks like Eurocities, ICLEI, Energy Cities, Climate Alliance, and C40 as examples of those who share best practices, build capacity, and engage in joint projects and procurement to enhance their climate ambitions and actions.

Welcome back to the Cities Climate Action Summit live blog. We begin the afternoon session with another keynote speech, this time from Anna Lisa Boni, Deputy Mayor, Municipality of Bologna, who boasts nearly three decades of professional experience in European and international affairs, with a focus on bridging local and regional authorities with Europe. Her career began at the Municipality of Bologna, where she managed international projects. She also worked in the secretariat of the culture committee at the European Parliament and led the Brussels representative office of the French region Provence Alpes Côte d’Azur. From 2014 to 2021, Madam Boni served as the Secretary-General of Eurocities.

In recognition of her contributions, Anna Lisa Boni received the Leadership Award at the Smart City Expo in October 2023. In short, there’s nobody better to talk about the importance of cities collaborating on climate action than Anna Lisa.