Cities Climate Action Summit 2024 shows the importance of collaboration

The SmartCitiesWorld second Cities Climate Action Summit came to a close in London yesterday after two days of discussion on and collaboration around how we confront the critical challenges climate change brings to cities.

SmartCitiesWorld senior editor Luke Antoniou brought proceedings to a close and urged the city leaders present to keep the conversation going. “The first thing, which shone through in all of our discussions, is the dedication that cities have to solving their climate-related challenges," he said.

“This extends also to their partners, collaborators and suppliers, who are supporting them every day to battle back against the climate crisis.”

Climate finance and equity

An official London Climate Action Week event, the Summit brought together more than 60 city speakers and  2,586 delegates from around the world over the two days and tackled pressing issues such as how cities and local authorities can fund climate action and build equity into climate plans as well confronted the challenges of putting green mobility and green building policies and practices in place.

It also highlighted the vital role climate technology plays and explored emerging areas for cities such as carbon removal.

“We set out to make CCAS24 an action-oriented event for cities, which gave delegates practical tools and ideas to take away and an opportunity to share and knowledge and that’s what we delivered”

A wide range of themes were discussed, which we will return to in the coming days and weeks, but what emerged loud and clear was the importance of collaboration and an acknowledgment that no single city, municipality or local authority can win this battle alone.

“We set out to make CCAS24 an action-oriented event for cities, which gave delegates practical tools and ideas to take away and an opportunity to share and knowledge and that’s what we delivered,” said Chris Cooke, CEO and founder of SmartCitiesWorld.