London, New York and Toronto have signed up to report their carbon emissions as part of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)’s new cities programme.
In partnership with the C40 and Clinton Climate initiative (CCI), CDP Cities is asking the world’s largest cities that have committed to tackle climate change – the 40 member cities and 10 affiliate members – to start voluntarily monitoring and reporting their carbon emissions.
CDP Cities will provide a standard data system for cities around the world to use to report on their greenhouse gas emission and share the information with others.
New York has monitored its greenhouse gas emissions and made the data public since 2006 and is already seeing a reduction in emissions, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“We have to keep the pressure on to continue our progress… as I’ve always said: if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” he says.
London Mayor Boris Johnson adds that the UK capital is also committed to disclosing a range of data about emissions and climate change.
“We know cities are the largest producers of carbon emissions, but it is vital that these outputs are quantified and in the public domain in order to track our progress in reducing them,” he adds.
The sponsors of CDP Cities, Autodesk, along with Microsoft and Sun Life Financial are supporting the new programme.
“To create cities that support a better quality of life while minimizing environmental impact, designers need a clear picture of the impact of climate change,” says Jay Bhatt of Autodesk.
CDP has also released a report, The Case for City Disclosure, that discusses how releasing emission data can help cities reduce carbon, improve operational efficiency and drive clean tech investment.