Cities Commit to become Emissions Neutral by 2050

The mayors of 25 pioneering cities, representing 150 million citizens, have pledged to develop and begin implementing more ambitious climate action plans before the end of 2020 to deliver emissions neutral and climate resilient cities by 2050.

These plans will ensure the cities deliver on their share of emissions reductions required to realize the ambition of the Paris Agreement.

In concrete terms, these climate action plans, developed with the support of C40 Cities, will help the world’s largest cities cut their emissions steeply over the next decade, and reach net-zero emissions by 2050. The plans will also demonstrate how each city will adapt and improve its resilience to climate-related crises and extreme weather events. Finally, the plans will detail the wider social, environmental and economic benefits for all citizens, of taking climate action.

The C40 member cities that have made this pioneering commitment, are: Austin, Accra, Barcelona, Boston, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Caracas, Copenhagen, Durban, London, Los Angeles, Melbourne, Mexico City, Milan, New York City, Oslo, Paris, Philadelphia, Portland, Quito, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador, Santiago, Stockholm & Vancouver.

In delivering the Deadline 2020 programme C40 will be working in collaboration with other leading city initiatives such as The Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance to achieve long-term emission reduction goals across more cities.

C40 Cities today also announced that they will provide direct support to nine African mega-cities in developing unprecedented, robust and evidence-based long-term climate action plans that align with the goals of the Paris Agreement. This project (Cities Matter: Capacity building in sub-Saharan African mega-cities for transformational climate change mitigation) is part of the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, Building and Nuclear Safety (BMUB) supports this initiative on the basis of a decision adopted by the German Bundestag.
 
The cities supported through this initiative are: Accra, Cape Town, Addis Ababa, Dar es Salaam, Durban, Johannesburg, Lagos, Nairobi and Tshwane.

“The Paris Agreement is very clear on what needs to happen to take courageous climate action, mayors of the world’s great cities are shaping the century ahead and paving the way for a better, healthier and greener future. Mayors do what they must do, not what they can, and these plans and policies are an excellent example of our state of mind. With the support of key partners, like BMUB and C40, African cities are playing a leading and decisive role in delivering on the ambition of the Paris Agreement.” Mayor of Paris and C40 Chair, Anne Hidalgo.

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