The Paris Agreement. Many cities’ emissions, particularly those of higher income and high emitting cities, need to do the same. This report presents research on C40 member cities’ emissions and finds that, at the time of publishing, at least 27 member cities’ emissions had already peaked. c40 Knowledge Hub 2020 To be counted as having peaked in this analysis cities must have reached their maximum level of emissions at least five years before the most recent inventory year (i.e. by 2012), among other criteria. More cities may have reached their maximum emissions level since, but won’t yet meet the five-year requirement.

The cities identified in this analysis as having peaked their emissions are.......Barcelona, Berlin, Boston, Chicago, Copenhagen, Heidelberg, London, Los Angeles, Madrid, Melbourne, Milan, Montréal, New Orleans, New York City, Oslo, Paris, Philadelphia, Portland, Rome, San Francisco, Stockholm, Sydney, Toronto, Vancouver, Warsaw and Washington D.C. Five of these cities – Berlin, Heidelberg, Los Angeles, Montréal and Stockholm – peaked their emissions as early as 1990. There are very likely to be others outside of the C40 network. The research used data from greenhouse gas emission inventories based on the Global Protocol for Community-Scale Greenhouse Gas Emission Inventories (GPC), as well as data from other sources where necessary. The report deep dives on six cities to look at what is driving their emissions reductions......

  • Copenhagen has focused on decentralised energy. The city has more than halved its emissions since peaking in 1991. A key contributing factor is the expansion of its district heating system, one of the largest in the world, which has been gradually shifted to renewable energy sources.
  • San Francisco has been decarbonising its grid. Emissions have been declining since 2000 mainly thanks to reduced energy demand from buildings, and a shift to cleaner electricity sources. The city has closed two fossil fuel power plants and pushed for renewables, with 77% of electricity supplied from greenhouse gas-free sources, covering all city-owned buildings.
  • Tokyo has reduced building energy consumption. Tokyo’s city’s energy consumption has steadily declined since the early 2000s, but the carbon intensity of its grid electricity has increased by nearly 50% as large nuclear power plants have been closed and replaced with natural gas. With limited control over this, Tokyo accelerated energy efficiency policies and introduced the world’s first city level cap-and-trade carbon emissions scheme, mandating emissions reductions for large buildings.
  • Paris has enhanced its mobility networks. Since peaking in 2004, Paris has been promoting clean and active mobility, making significant improvements to public transport and cycling facilities. A programme to remove diesel-powered commercial vehicles is under way.
  • Sydney is optimising energy use in buildings, which account for over 80% of its emissions. The city’s ‘Better Buildings Partnership’ has reduced emissions by 52% with energy efficiency measures, a cleaner grid and building-scale solar energy.
  • Vancouver has been improving its waste management. Despite a growing population, between 2007 and 2016 Vancouver reduced the amount of waste sent to landfill by 23%, more than doubled the amount of waste composted, and increased the efficiency of its landfill gas collection system.....                                                     
  • Read more in the article https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/27-C40-Cities-have-peaked-their-greenhouse-gas-emissions?language=en_US

Mapped: Cities with a climate action plan..... https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/Mapped-Cities-with-a-climate-action-plan?language=en_US