Rio de Janeiro (Brazil),
23 March 2010 - The world's cities now have
a common method for calculating the amount
of greenhouse gases produced within their
boundaries. UNEP, UN-HABITAT, and the World
Bank jointly launched a Global Greenhouse
Gas Standard for cities at the World Urban
Forum in Rio de Janeiro today.
City mayors, other urban
leaders, businesses and civil society all
recognize the need to act to reduce the
impacts of climate change on cities. While
measurement should not delay action, a critical
requirement to support policy and access
to finance is the establishment of an open,
global and harmonized protocol for quantifying
the GHG emissions attributable to cities
and local regions.
"The common standard
is a critical first step for cities to better
understand their greenhouse gas emissions,
with this knowledge cities can better target
policies and inform their citizens,"
said Zoubida Allaoua, World Bank Director.
Anna Tibaijuka, Undersecretary-General
of the United Nations and Executive Director
of UN-HABITAT said: "In reducing greenhouse
gas emissions, cities are part of the solution:
city officials are discovering new ways
to get people out of cars and into rapid
transit buses; to harness the methane released
by landfills and turn it into energy; to
support compact urban development and not
urban sprawl".
The Greenhouse Gas Standard
calculates emissions on a per capita basis,
allowing cities to compare their performance
and analyse the differences. For example,
greenhouse gas emissions are 4.20 tonnes
of CO2e per capita in Barcelona, Spain,
10.6 in Bangkok, Thailand, and 17.8 in Calgary,
Canada. But emissions vary widely among
cities depending on their primary energy
source, climate, means of transportation
and urban form. New York, a high-density
city in the US, produces 10.4 tonnes of
CO2e per capita while Denver, another US-city
with a much lower density, produces more
than double that at 21.3 tonnes. The new
common standard also allows cities to compare
their emissions over time, across cities
and in specific sectors such as energy,
transportation, or waste.
The Greenhouse Gas Standard
builds on and is consistent with Intergovernmental
Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) protocol
and other greenhouse gas initiatives such
as those by the World Resources Institute,
ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
and the Clinton Climate Initiative. The
Standard provides a common format to facilitate
compilation by cities themselves, or through
the academic community. It is now completed
for more than 40 cities, but the goal of
UNEP, UN-HABITAT and the World Bank is to
eventually have all cities around the world
represented.
UNEP, UN-HABITAT, and
the World Bank recognize the importance
of climate change for cities and are working
jointly to produce tools, programming and
resources for cities as they respond to
climate change.
Achim Steiner, Under-Secretary-General
of the United Nations and UNEP Executive
Director, said: "Cities can be a key
catalyst towards the international aim of
keeping a global temperature rise to under
2 degrees C by 2050. The Copenhagen Accord,
for which 110 countries representing over
80 per cent of global emissions have expressed
support, remains a work in progress. There
remains an ambition gap between where we
are and where we need to be in 2020 - bigger
cuts by cities may be one route towards
bridging this divide."
The Greenhouse Gas Standard
for cities, released today, is one of a
series of tools that UNEP, UN-HABITAT and
the World Bank are working on for cities.
The joint work program is being carried
out with the support of Cities Alliance.
Notes to Editors:
The Greenhouse Gas Standard
including a common format for conducting
a Greenhouse Gas inventory is available
online at: www.unep.org/urban_environment
UNEP
Created in 1972, UNEP
represents the United Nations' environmental
conscience. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, its
mission is to provide leadership and encourage
partnership in caring for the environment
by inspiring, informing, and enabling nations
and peoples to improve their quality of
life without compromising that of future
generations. UNEP's Division of Technology,
Industry and Economics - based in Paris
- helps governments, local authorities and
decision-makers in business and industry
to develop and implement policies and practices
focusing on sustainable development. The
Division leads UNEP's work in the areas
of climate change, resource efficiency,
harmful substances and hazardous waste.
UN-HABITAT
The United Nations Human
Settlements Programme (UN-HABITAT) is the
United Nations agency for human settlements.
It is mandated by the UN General Assembly
to promote socially and environmentally
sustainable towns and cities with the goal
of providing adequate shelter for all. Its
Cities in Climate Change Initiative seeks
to enhance climate change mitigation and
climate change preparedness of cities in
developing and least developed countries.
Building on UN-HABITAT's long experience
in sustainable urban development, the Cities
in Climate Change Initiative seeks to provide
support towards the development and implementation
of pro-poor and innovative climate change
policies and strategies; and to develop
tools for enhancing capacities of local
governments.
World Bank
The World Bank is a
source of financial and technical assistance
to developing countries around the world.
Its mission is to help people help themselves
and their environment by providing resources,
sharing knowledge, building capacity and
forging partnerships in the public and private
sectors. The World Bank's Urban & Local
Government Strategy aims to be a key element
in helping civic leaders and national authorities
think through, and implement, policies and
programs for the benefit of their people,
their cities, and their countries. The Strategy
will help governments at all levels make
cities more equitable, efficient, sustainable,
and environmentally friendly.
Nick Nuttall, UNEP Spokesperson/Head of
Media, Nairobi
