Think global act local. Cities could trump national efforts to cut greenhouse gas emissions. Why wait for slow moving national leadership to do the right thing? For the first time, a new report in partnership with C40 and the Stockholm Environment Institute quantifies how cities’ collective efforts to curb emissions impacts the global picture. It shows how aggressive efforts to cut building, transportation and energy waste use could cut carbon significantly. Cumulatively, cities could potentially cut greenhouse gas emissions by the following amounts over what national policies and actions are on track to achieve by these target dates:
By 2030, cities could reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions an additional 3.7 Gigatons (Gt) CO2e over national policies.
By 2050, cities could reduce (GHG) emissions an additional 8.0 Gt CO2e over national policies.
Plenty of charts and graphs here:
http://www.c40.org/blog_posts/new-research-cities-have-the-potential-to-help-close-the-emissions-gap
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/09/25/3571894/c40-cities-climate-report/
Submitted from Greenpoint, Brooklyn, New York