Climate change is a global phenomenon that largely impacts urban life. UNEP Rising global temperatures causes sea levels to rise, increases the number of extreme weather events such as floods, droughts and storms, and increases the spread of tropical diseases. All these have costly impacts on cities' basic services, infrastructure, housing, human livelihoods and health. At the same time, cities are a key contributor to climate change, as urban activities are major sources of greenhouse gas emissions. Estimates suggest that urban areas are responsible for 70 percent of global CO2 emissions, with transport and buildings being among the largest contributors (IPCC, 2022).
Only with a coordinated approach and action at the global, regional, national and local levels, can success be achieved. It is essential, therefore, to make cities an integral part of the solution in fighting climate change. Many cities are already doing a lot by using renewable energy sources, cleaner production techniques and regulations or incentives to limit industrial emissions. Cutting emissions will also reduce local pollution from industries and transport, thus improving urban air quality and the health of city dwellers.
In cooperation with partners, UNEP assists national and local governments by raising awareness, organizing workshops and trainings, developing evaluation tools and involving cities in international meetings on climate change. One of these collaborations is a Joint Work Programme between UNEP, the World Bank, UN-Habitat, under the facilitating role of Cities Alliance to address cities and climate change. With a focus on developing countries, this partnership aims to support local and national governments in urban adaptation and mitigation processes. One of the main outputs of this cooperation is an online knowledge centre which provides information on cities and climate change.
As a member of the Climate Neutral Network which brings together 19 partner cities and numerous organizations, UNEP provides its expertise on environmental issues. The network's objective is to make the shift to a low-emissions and eventually climate neutral society. Also, the Environment and Climate Change Outlook (ECCO) project conducted by UNEP's Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) provides a global methodology which enables sub-regional and national level authorities to conduct vulnerability and impact assessments for adaptation to climate change.
The Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities (GI-REC)
The Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities is a UNEP-led initiative launched in June 2012 at the Rio+20 Summit. The initiative currently works with different stakeholders to promote energy efficient buildings, efficient water use, sustainable waste management and other activities. UNEP and its partners aim to assist cities in combining greater productivity and innovation with lower costs and reduced environmental impact.
Integrated Environmental Planning.....Unplanned rapid urban growth leads to overexploitation of natural resources and destruction of fragile ecosystems in the city and beyond. The urban poor are the most vulnerable to such environmental degradation. Yet in many cities the environmental dimension is not considered in urban planning processes. Therefore, UNEP, with support of the Cities Alliance, is developing a practical methodology for better integrating environmental concerns in strategic planning at the city level.
Cities & Climate Change......Flooding, heat waves, tornados: for many communities around the world, climate change is already a reality. About 75 percent of global CO2 emissions originate from cities, with transport and buildings being among the largest contributors. In addition to efforts at the global and national level, local authorities are already leading the way in finding local solutions to these challenges. UNEP together with its partners supports cities in accounting and reducing their emissions and assessing their climate vulnerability. Learn more
Linking Global Agenda to Local Action........UNEP is working closely with UN-Habitat on sustainable urban planning and management. Since 2007 a joint Partnership Framework is in place. Concrete joint activities between the two international organizations are laid out in biennial Implementation Plans. Activities include joint work on Climate Change assessments, ecosystem based adaptation in coastal cities as well as cooperation in related urban sectors such as transport, buildings and construction.
Sustainable Buildings and Climate Initiative (SBCI)......SBCI was launched in 2006 as a partnership between the UN and the building sector. It promotes and supports sustainable building practices on a global scale with a focus on energy efficiency and GHG emission reduction. It brings together stakeholders involved in the sector on the local, national and international level. Furthermore, the initiative develops tools and strategies to better evaluate and implement sustainable building practices, such as the Common Carbon Metric.
Sustainable Social Housing Initiative (SUSHI)........UNEP’s Sustainable Social Housing Initiative promotes sustainability in social housing programmes. In Bangkok and São Paulo SUSHI assessed the status of social housing programmes, policies, market initiatives and voluntary actions and identified barriers for the implementation of sustainable building practices. A guideline with tools and strategies to overcome these constraints is being finalized. A follow-up phase for SUSHI is currently underway.
Sustainable Buildings Policies in Developing Countries (SPoD).......The SPoD project aims to assist governments at national and local levels to develop policy tools in support of mainstreaming sustainable construction and building approaches, resulting in reduced carbon footprints from buildings. SPoD provides a Quick-Scan Tool for governments to evaluate relevant policy measures according to existing barriers and opportunities at national and local level. This approach is being tested and verified in two pilot locations.
Urban Clean Development Mechanism (CDM)......One of the outcomes of UNEP’s cooperating with the City of Gwangju (Republic of Korea) is to explore the feasibility of developing a methodology for a Clean Development Mechanism at city-wide level. The study has identified barriers and opportunities for cities and CDM and provides a list of recommendations for reforms to the CDM for better uptake and application at the city level. https://www.unep.org/