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The Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) has invited 140 of the world’s most populated cities to report information on their greenhouse gas emissions and climate change strategies, as part of the second annual disclosure cycle of its CDP Cities program. CDP is also asking cities, for the first time, to report on their water use and water risks alongside their carbon and climate change activities, due to the significant risk this finite resource poses to cities.
Now in its second year, CDP Cities provides a transformative global system that enables cities around the world to voluntarily measure, disclose and track their progress on reducing greenhouse gas emissions and managing climate change risk. This year the number of cities invited to participate has risen to 140, up from 58 cities last year. For the second year running, CDP Cities is partnering with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40), a group of the largest cities in the world dedicated to tackling climate change, to provide the preferred reporting platform for these progressive cities. CDP Cities is also inviting many of the largest cities by population in North America, Europe, Africa, Latin America and Australasia.
This year’s questionnaire, which has been developed with input from C40, Autodesk and Jones Lang LaSalle among others, explores water supply issues as well as the ways in which water presents risks to cities. This is in addition to the core areas covered last year around carbon emissions, the risks from climate change and cities’ governance and strategy practices in tackling them.
Conor Riffle, head of CDP Cities said: “Cities are immensely vulnerable to the damaging effects of climate change and water is the sharp end of the climate change stick. Measuring and reporting information on carbon, climate change and water brings cities greater insight, enables them to make powerful decisions and ultimately address the risk as well as capitalize on the many opportunities to bolster future sustainable growth.”
“Good management depends on good data. Annual reporting on emissions and climate change strategies empowers individual cities to assess past -- and target future -- climate actions. At the same time, the collective progress and impact that is demonstrated truly bolsters the role of cities in international climate mitigation efforts,” said C40 Chair, New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg. “When C40 helped to launch the CDP Cities program last year, more than 70 percent of C40 Cities participated; this year, we are aiming for 100 percent participation. I encourage all cities invited to join this effort as it is a critical step in addressing the climate risks and impacts we face, both now and in the future.”
Cities have until early March 2012 to disclose to CDP. Public responses will be made available through www.cdproject.net and an analysis of the findings will be released in June 2012.
