Cities at the forefront of climate action and the role of mayors

Last year's COP28 conference ended with a historic first: after dramatic and tense negotiations lasting deep into the night, representatives from across the globe agreed upon a roadmap to transition away from dirty energy. But does the agreement fall short of what is required if the world is to avoid breaching crucial and deadly climate tipping points? 

Image Credit: © Maurizio Martorana - C40

Featured guests:
Mark Watts, executive director of C40 Cities, is building a reputation as one of the most prominent thought leaders in the urban climate action space, and was recently recognised as such in the Time 100 Climate list. Mark’s aim for C40 entails supporting its network of cities in halving global emissions this decade, while simultaneously reducing inequality and implementing inclusive climate policies.

Professor Xuemei Bai is a distinguished professor for Urban Environment and Human Ecology at the Australian National University. She was also the winner of the 2018 Volvo Environmental Prize, and is an elected fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Professor Bai has served as a lead author for numerous global climate policy initiatives, including IPCC AR6 and is also a commissioner at the Earth Commission, which has set out crucial tipping points the world must not pass to avoid planetary collapse.

Links
Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy
Collapse by Jared Diamond
Solved: How the World’s Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis
Ports & Shipping - C40 website
Translating Earth system boundaries for cities and businesses - Nature
Build networked resilience across cities. - Science - Professor Xuemei Bai
C40 North America mayors' response to wildfires and air quality crisis in the region

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/