Cities' fight for zero

This week, we are excited to announce the release of a new episode in our podcast series Sound of Green. In our latest episode on sub-national climate action, we explore how the urban green transition is uniquely positioned to lead the race to net-zero.?

Given that cities house over half of the world’s population and are responsible for 70% of greenhouse gas emissions, the sub-national level is naturally attracting more attention.?

But amidst these challenges, pioneering cities worldwide are fighting the effects of climate change, representing drivers mobilising the green transition forward. A tangible example is the C40 network, a global performance-based network of nearly 100 mayors across the world’s leading cities, that have united to confront the climate crisis. The goal of the C40 network is to drive conversation on climate action and environmental justice and place these issues at the centre of local policies and on the international agenda.?

Despite being one of the smallest cities in the C40 network, the Danish capital of Copenhagen has demonstrated big ambitions in its climate action. At the beginning of the 2010s, Copenhagen committed to a number of green initiatives, including the goal to become the world’s first CO2-neutral capital. And in December 2023, the City of Copenhagen politically adopted the ambitious goals outlined in the Climate Plan 2035 aiming to achieve climate positivity by 2035 in terms of direct CO2-emissions within city limits and halving the per capita global CO2-emissions associated with Copenhageners’ consumption by 2035 compared to 2019 levels.??

The recent episode of Sound of Green provides insightful interviews with Mark Watts, Executive Director of the C40 network, Lord Mayor Sophie H?storp Andersen of Copenhagen, Pelle Bournonville Special Advisor from Realdania, and Louise Koch, Senior Director, Group Head of Sustainability from Grundfos, diving into the importance of global collaboration to reach the net-zero goals.??

In addition to our podcast episode on cities, our white paper 'Urban green transition', published last year, explores why holistic and strategic city planning and development within mobility and infrastructure, climate adaptation, as well as environmentally conscious architecture and construction, must take centre stage in the transformed cities of tomorrow.

Listen to the episode here:

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