Mexico City, Mexico (1 December 2016) – Eleven cities were honoured today at an awards ceremony in Mexico City. The C40 Cities Awards recognize the world’s most inspiring and innovative cities tackling climate change. Sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies and BYD, the C40 Cities Awards ceremony was held during the C40 Mayors Summit, where more than 40 mayors from around the world gathered to create sustainable and liveable cities for citizens.
Mexico City, Mexico (1 December 2016) – Eleven cities were honoured today at an awards ceremony in Mexico City. The C40 Cities Awards recognize the world’s most inspiring and innovative cities tackling climate change. Sponsored by Bloomberg Philanthropies and BYD, the C40 Cities Awards ceremony was held during the C40 Mayors Summit, where more than 40 mayors from around the world gathered to create sustainable and liveable cities for citizens.
“On behalf of C40, I want to congratulate all the winning cities for their commitment to their citizens and their dedication to tackling climate change,” said outgoing C40 Chair and Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes. “Throughout my tenure as C40 Chair, I have been increasingly impressed by the calibre of the C40 Cities Award winners, and I look forward to seeing other mayors around the world adapting and implementing these models in their own cities.”
“The C40 Cities Awards recognize the best and boldest work being done by mayors to fight climate change and protect people from risks,” said C40 President of the Board and U.N. Secretary General’s Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael R. Bloomberg. “The winning projects show that great progress is being made on every continent, and they serve as an inspiration to other cities. They also show how cities can help the world meet the ambitious goals set a year ago in Paris.”
An expert jury panel comprised of former mayors, climate experts and others, selected ten winning urban sustainability projects based on excellence in urban planning and dedication to reducing greenhouse gas emissions and improving resiliency. The selected cities exemplified the best policies, projects and programmes globally, and for the first time included a category recognizing social equity.
“Today, we celebrate some of the projects that are key to delivering on the world’s climate ambition and will help put us on a path to a carbon-safe future,” said Chuanfu Wang, Chairman and President of BYD Co. Ltd. “We recognise the incredible human power and thoughtful consideration that goes into making these projects reality. BYD is extremely proud to support the Awards and help to accelerate the implementation of these truly innovative programs.”
C40 has partnered with Associated Press Images to capture compelling images from each of the winning city projects. These can be downloaded by clicking here, and are free to use.
Addis Ababa (Transportation): The Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit (LRT) Project has improved the city’s public transport system and created more than 6,000 jobs. The cumulative emission reduction potential of the LRT system is forecasted at 1.8 million tCO2e by 2030.
Copenhagen (Adaptation in Action): Copenhagen is threatened by sea level rise and heavy downpours. The Cloudburst Management Plan – Project Implementation is an integrated system of green streets and pocket parks that will function as water retention areas and water basins.
Curitiba (Sustainable Communities): Urban Agriculture in Curitiba aims to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions through urban agriculture: directly through carbon sequestration in soil, biological nitrogen fixation by legumes and non-use of chemical nitrogen fertilisers; and indirectly by reducing food and waste transport distances, composting organic waste, reduction of "heat islands" and creating environmental awareness.
Kolkata (Solid Waste): Kolkata’s climate change risks have been exacerbated by unsanitary disposal and waste dumping. Kolkata Solid Waste Management Improvement Project has achieved 60-80% (depending on site) segregation of waste at its source, with further waste segregation occurring at transfer stations. Forward looking, the project aims to eradicate open dumping and burning of waste and to limit the concentration of methane gas generated in landfill sites.
Sydney & Melbourne (Building Energy Efficiency): The CitySwitch Green Office programme aims to overcome the knowledge and resource gap between building owners and tenants by prioritising the reporting of fully auditable achievements, and encourages members to adopt an energy target of between 4-Star and 6-Star on the National Australian Built Environment Rating System (NABERS). The programme has an overall target avoidance of 50,000 tonnes of new CO2e per year by its signatory businesses.
Paris (Adaptation Plans & Assessments): The Paris Adaption Strategy is aimed at tackling climate change-related challenges including heatwaves, urban heat island effect, flooding and droughts. The programme addresses other sustainability issues like air pollution and health related risks, climate refugee challenges and water scarcity. Some actions being implemented by 2020, include: a greening programme to decrease heat-related risks; help for Parisians when it’s hot; and a less vulnerable food supply.
Portland (Climate Action Plans & Inventories): The overarching goal of Portland's 2015 Climate Action Plan (CAP) is to deliver an integrated set of strategies by 2020 to keep Portland on a path to reduce GHG emissions 40% by 2030 and 80% by 2050. The proportion of citizens travelling primarily by public transport, cycling or walking is expected to rise to 50%, and the number of electric vehicles is set to increase four-fold to 8,000. The CAP aims to reduce energy use in existing buildings by 1.7% annually, resulting in an annual GHG emissions reduction of 280,000 metric tonnes in 2020.
Seoul (Social Equity & Climate Change): The Energy Welfare Public Private Partnership (PPP) Programme aims to contribute to the city’s targets on greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction while simultaneously reducing energy consumption and spending for low-income families. In 2015, Seoul financed energy retrofits for 1,295 households and aims to finance a further 1,050 households in 2016.
Shenzhen (Finance & Economic Development): Shenzhen is one of the fastest growing cities in the world with a population of 15 million and an annual GDP growth rate of 10%. Implementing an Emissions Trading System (ETS) scheme carried many challenges, but Shenzhen has recruited 636 enterprises to partake in its ETS scheme. Green low carbon development of the city is now possible thanks to uncoupling GDP potential from GHG emissions.
Yokohama (Clean Energy): Yokohama Smart City Project (YSCP) strives to more effectively manage energy use and mitigate climate change through energy management systems. The city’s action plan sets the target of an 80% CO2 emissions reduction by 2050. The project is designed to engage citizens and stakeholders as a key factor of successful implementation.
Earlier in the day during the C40 Mayors Summit, C40 unveiled a report, Deadline 2020: How cities will get the job done, outlining a vision to reduce emissions by 2020 and help meet the Paris Agreement targets.
For more information on the Awards and the winning projects, visit: http://www.c40.org/awards. You can download images from the winning cities here.
For the most up-to-date details about the 2016 C40 Mayors Summit, please refer to the website: http://www.mayorssummit2016.c40.org/.
Follow the C40 Cities Awards on social media with #C40Awards and the C40 Mayors Summit with the hashtag #Cities4Climate.
About the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, now in its 11th year, connects more than 85 of the world’s greatest cities, representing 650+ million people and one quarter of the global economy. Created and led by cities, C40 is focused on tackling climate change and driving urban action that reduces greenhouse gas emissions and climate risks, while increasing the health, wellbeing and economic opportunities of urban citizens. The current chair of the C40 is Rio de Janeiro Mayor Eduardo Paes; Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo is Chair-elect; and three-term Mayor of New York City Michael R. Bloomberg serves as President of the Board. C40’s work is made possible by our three strategic funders: Bloomberg Philanthropies, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), and Realdania. To learn more about the work of C40 and our cities, please visit www.c40.org, follow us on Twitter @c40cities or Instagram @c40cities and like us on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/C40Cities.
About Bloomberg Philanthropies
Bloomberg Philanthropies works in over 120 countries around the world to ensure better, longer lives for the greatest number of people. The organization focuses on five key areas for creating lasting change: Arts, Education, Environment, Government Innovation and Public Health. Bloomberg Philanthropies encompasses all of Michael R. Bloomberg’s charitable activities, including his foundation and his personal giving. In 2015, Bloomberg Philanthropies distributed over half a billion dollars. For more information, please visit bloomberg.org or follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, and Twitter @BloombergDotOrg.
About BYD
Since its inception in 1995 in Shenzhen, China, BYD Company Ltd. quickly grew into a green-tech giant and relentless advocate of sustainable development, as well as a pioneer in successfully expanding its New Energy solutions globally. Specializing in battery technologies, its sustainability mission to create a Zero Emission Energy Ecosystem – comprising affordable solar power generation, reliable energy storage and cutting-edge electrified transportation – has made the company an industry leader in the energy and technology sectors. BYD and its shareholders – among them notable American investor Warren Buffett – see sustainable development through technological advancement in products and solutions as the only way into the future. In 2016, the company was granted the Large Corporation Award of the Zayed Future Energy Prize for its solid contribution to sustainable development in the energy sector. For more information, please visit us at www.byd.com or www.facebook.com/bydcompany or http://www.c40.org/custom_pages/c40-cities-awards-partners
About the C40 Cities Awards Jury Panel:
- David Miller - Chair of the Jury Panel, President & CEO, WWF Canada; Former Mayor of Toronto; Former C40 Chair
- Dr. Fauzi Bowo - Former Governor of Jakarta; Indonesian Ambassador to Germany
- Amanda Eichel - Special Advisor, Bloomberg Philanthropies
- Nicky Gavron AM - Former Deputy-Mayor of London;
London Assembly Member
- Stella Li - Senior Vice-President, BYD Company Limited
- Mr. Kgosiento Ramokgopa - Former Mayor of Tshwane
- Rodrigo Rosa - Special Advisor to the C40 Chair; Executive Representative of the City of Rio de Janeiro in the C40 Climate Leadership Group
- Dr. Leena Srivastava - Vice-Chancellor, TERI University
- Jie Tang - Former Vice-Mayor of Shenzhen
2 December 2016
