Why We Shouldn’t Forget About Cities at COP29

Cities offer the most significant prospects for sustainable development. Yet a recent United Nations report warned that governments’ emissions reduction efforts do not prioritize urban centers enough. With COP29 approaching, World Cities Day, observed annually on October 31, serves as a poignant reminder of the immense potential cities possess as catalysts for transformative change.

—

A United Nations report issued last month warned that failure to strengthen and deliver immediately on climate commitments made under the Paris Agreement will put the world on track for a global temperature increase of between 2.6C and 3.1C by 2100. A few days later, the UN’s meteorological arm confirmed that atmospheric concentrations of all three main greenhouse gases – carbon dioxide, methane, and nitrous oxide – surged to historic levels last year, committing the planet to rising temperatures “for many years to come.”

The upcoming COP29 climate summit offers countries a unique chance to deliver ambitious plans for emissions reduction, better known as Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). These pledges, which must be updated every five years, form the foundation of the world’s collective efforts to tackle climate change under the Paris Agreement.

An obvious yet often neglected starting point for emissions reduction efforts is cities.

Some 4.4 billion people – or 56% of the world’s population – live in urban areas. By mid-century, the figure will rise to nearly 7 in 10 people worldwide. Consequently, and not surprisingly, cities account for 70% of global primary energy consumption and contribute 67-72% of global carbon dioxide emissions. As the urban population continues to grow, its environmental footprint will expand significantly.

The relentless growth in emissions is the single largest driver of climate change.

Cities worldwide are on the frontlines of the climate crisis, as numerous disasters this year have reminded us. It is estimated that flooding, rising sea levels, wildfires, and extreme heat are already affecting approximately 70% of urban areas worldwide.

‘Big Missed Opportunity’

Despite ongoing warnings, rising death tolls, and billions of dollars in damages, most governments continue to overlook the crucial role that cities could play in achieving a net-zero future, as highlighted in a UN-Habitat report published earlier this year.

It found that urban priorities featured prominently in just 26% of the 194 NDCs submitted last year – a “big missed opportunity,” according to Lea Ranalder.

Ranalder is Associate Programme Management Officer for Human Settlements at UN-Habitat, where she leads work on climate action and diplomacy, specifically working on COP processes and supporting COP presidencies to help position cities within the global intergovernmental landscape. Speaking with Earth.Org in a video interview in June, she said that while cities are perfectly aware of the risks they present and the threats they face, and often know how to go about them, governments seem to have other priorities.

“There is a big disconnect at the global level. Who’s deciding climate action and plans? Who’s negotiating mitigation and adaptation measures? It’s always governments, while cities often don’t have space at the negotiating table,” said Ranalder. 

A large part of that 26% were NDCs from low- and middle-income countries such as China, Colombia, Morocco, India, South Africa, and Turkey. 39% had moderate levels of urban content and the remaining 35% had low to no mention, including high-income and highly urbanized countries and regions such as Canada, Japan, the European Union, and the United States, along with Brazil, Indonesia, and Nigeria.

For Ranalder, this is a great example of the disconnect that exists between national priorities and city priorities: “Many high-income countries prioritize other sectors, they have a much stronger sectoral approach in terms of energy, waste, transport, and so on. They don’t necessarily see cities as a cross-cutting thing. Some do, but it’s not reflected in the NDCs and that’s a big missed opportunity,” she said.

Expectations Vs Reality

Countries’ promises of bold action often go unheeded.

196 nations agreed in 2022 to do everything in their power to safeguard global biodiversity, which has been dwindling at an alarming rate. By adopting the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, they agreed to conserve or otherwise restore at least 30% of coastal and marine areas, among other measures, by 2030.

Yet last week, as these same nations gathered in Cali, Colombia for the first biodiversity summit since the framework’s adoption, a UN report revealed that a mere 2.8% of the world’s ocean is “effectively” protected. At the current rate, only 9.7% of global marine areas will be protected by decade’s end.

Ahead of the Cali summit, 194 countries were also required to submit national action plans detailing how they intend to achieve targets and commitments outlined in the biodiversity framework. 80% of them missed the deadline.

Sadly, these are just the latest examples of countries not practicing what they preach.

Keep the Momentum Going

We are dangerously close we are to miss the Paris warming target, beyond which our planet risks becoming inhospitable to human life much faster than we can possibly imagine.

To stay within the 1.5C goal, we must dramatically reduce emissions by 2030 – period. As the UN clearly explained last week, we need to achieve a 42% reduction in emissions by 2030 and a 57% reduction by 2035 to stay on track for a 1.5C increase in global temperatures. For a 2C pathway, emissions must decrease by 28% by 2030 and 37% by 2035 compared to 2019 levels.

Cities function as crucial hubs for refining and scaling innovations and are an obvious place to start cutting emissions. As we approach the point of no return, it is time to start acknowledging their potential.

Luckily, some cities have responded to the call, generating what Ranalder described as “exciting” momentum.

Freetown in Germany has planted hundreds of thousand of trees to mitigate urban heat, while Colombia has turned Bogotá into Latin America’s first cycling capital. Both projects, Ranalder said, had a huge impact at a “very manageable” cost.

In South Korea, Seoul authorities successfully regenerated the buried Cheonggyecheon River. This has “completely changed the city landscape and turned into a place that people enjoy,” said Ranalder, and serves as an “example that change is possible.” Building on the project’s success, the city recently announced plans to revitalize the Han River by 2030.

“In the end, it’s about the people that live in cities. What we need to understand is that climate action is not in contrast with having a good life but it’s rather there to support life in the city. It creates local jobs, combats air pollution, and can make cities more liveable and enjoyable. Everybody wants green recreational spaces,” said Ranalder.

Inaction not only jeopardizes the well-being of communities and ecosystems but also presents significant financial risks. It is indeed well documented that the costs of inaction far exceed the expenses associated with implementing mitigation and adaptation strategies.

The World Economic Forum has estimated that for every $1 spent on adaptation action now, there is avoided costs of $2-10 in the future.

As Ranalder put it: “If you work with your cities, you can tackle the climate crisis faster, more efficiently, and more effectively and with people in mind.”

As COP29 and the deadline to submit updated NDCs near, it is time to translate our commitments into tangible actions.