Last episode of Cities 1.5, we took you into the Arctic region through the perspectives of a world-renowned scientist and seasoned canoeist and river guide. This time, we’re staying in that region - but we’re speaking to an expert who hails from the circumpolar North about the connections between climate change and human rights. Because Indigenous communities have been calling attention to warming temperatures in the Arctic, and the resulting impacts on their ways of life, for decades...

The Arctic is heating at four times the rate of the rest of the planet, and is a key indicator region for mapping the impacts of the climate crisis. Glacial melt is predicted to contribute to disastrous rates of sea-level rise which will have catastrophic impacts on global cities, coastal communities and the millions of people who live there. It is crucial that we  do everything we can in our cities to ensure that the Arctic does have a future…because all of our futures depend on it. Image...

Cities 1.5 Host David Miller’s book Solved: How the World’s Greatest Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis has just been released to paperback in a revised version and with an all new chapter just in time for World Book and Copyright Day! In it, he chronicles the stories of cities who have taken action to meet - and exceed - the emissions targets laid out in the Paris Agreement to transition away from fossil fuels. In this episode, we turn the tables: David takes his place in  the interviewee...

 By 2035, global fossil fuel use must be reduced to 50% of 2020 levels - or else we will face uncertain and serious consequences. But the fossil fuel industry keeps forging ahead, making billions at the expense of all of us, through attempts to re-brand fossil gas as a clean energy alternative, using disinformation narratives to delay and deceive, and advocating for the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure. One way to combat these actions of the fossil fuel industry is to collate and...

Next time on Cities 1. 5, it's a special takeover episode! Acquisitions Editor at University of Toronto Press, Jodi Lewchuk, interviews David about his book, Solved: How the World's Great Cities Are Fixing The Climate Crisis. Solved has just been released in paperback this week with an all-new chapter. David will be at the University of Toronto Bookstore on Wednesday, April 17th to celebrate the launch. Visit utpjournals.press for all the details - we'd love to see you there.  And tune in to...

Cities stand on the frontline of the climate crisis - so they must also work to create frontline policies that support the global systems change required to ensure that cities have a future. Thanks to philanthropic support from both Global North and Global South organisations, the scientists, artists, and community leaders around the world who are making a climate-assured future possible are ensuring we are one step closer to this becoming reality. Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on...

Efforts to address the climate crisis are under siege beneath a rising tide of mis- and disinformation, with smear campaigns often funded and coordinated by vested interests such as the fossil fuel industry, climate conspiracists looking for cash and clicks, and even national governments. We all have a part to play - we must take responsibility for the information we consume and share to ensure a prosperous, healthy future for ourselves…and our planet. Photo by Andrew Neel on...

Being able to breathe clean air should be a human right but, according to the World Health Organization 99% of the world’s population lives in areas exceeding safe pollution limits, which has huge impacts on public health. Air pollution, climate impacts, and social justice are three sides of the same issue, demanding an intersectional response that not only makes space for the voices of the most impacted, but also the most disenfranchised.  Image Credit: Photo by Sai De Silva on...

Ecological economics lies at the heart of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and C40’s mission. It recognises that the former gold standard of measuring economic success – the growth of gross domestic product, or GDP – is no longer fit for purpose, despite the fact that it’s the model that most national governments still rely on. Policies that allow us to prioritize the vitality of both people and the environment  - and potentially a systemic re-think of our economic global...

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 UN Women slogan for International Women’s Day 2024 is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress,” and in support of this goal we’re opening Season 3 of Cities 1.5 with a production team takeover! David Miller may be the voice of the podcast, but our amazing production team is all female. Also, we hear from two amazing women who are working to ensure that women’s voices are heard, mainstreamed and amplified, and that their needs are centred in the battle to stop climate breakdown. Image...

This past December, COP28 signalled the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era. 150 heads of state came to the consensus that in order to halve emissions by 2030 - the target that scientists have warned us be must adhere to in order to avoid climate catastrophe - we must transition away from dirty energy. This is a monumental moment for our planet…and cities are going to be leading the way as we execute on these actions. In season 3 of Cities 1.5, host David Miller is speaking to urban...

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been warning us for decades that record-breaking, hot, fire- and smoke-filled summers like the one we just experienced will continue to be the new normal without huge and immediate cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions. The latest IPCC report serves as our last warning: carry on as we are and we’ll face ever-increasing extreme climate events, such as the terrible wildfires which just raged across Canada, leading to loss of life,...

In the face of enforced mass migration, the rising cost of recovery from increasing climate disasters, and an uncertain future without drastic and immediate action, it’s important to hold up examples of cities and projects that are successful in their innovative climate actions. In this episode, we look at climate projects in Curitiba, Brazil, and Barranquilla, Colombia, that are working towards saving the planet while making their cities more prosperous and resilient. Featured guests: Mayor...

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”: the first line of the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities is an idea that the two cities featured in this episode’s case study know all too well. The Global South’s Nairobi, Kenya and the Global North’s Rotterdam in the Netherlands are half a world apart, but they’re each facing similar and equally dire climate consequences that are caused by and a threat to the major economic driver of import and export in their cities. But in the...

July 2023 was the hottest month globally since records began. Combine that with several months filled with a series of extreme weather events - from heatwaves in Europe, North America and Asia, to wildfires in Canada and Greece - and it’s undeniable that the impacts of climate change that experts have long been warning us about are here today. And the worse news is that it’s only going to get hotter. Featured guests: Eugenia Kargbo is Freetown, Sierra Leone’s Chief Heat Officer. Her role is...

Climate breakdown is happening, and the cost of ignoring this phenomenon will be far greater than the cost of immediate action. We know that green investments promote the transition to a more resilient, prosperous, and sustainable economy. But what are the steps that cities need to take in order to shift their investments away from fossil fuels? How can policy makers support the creation of good, green jobs - while still protecting the climate? Featured guests: Daniel Zarrilli is the Special...

C40 and the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy are providing an opportunity for cities to rethink conventional economic systems, like capitalism, that have led to the climate crisis. It is abundantly clear that the economic rules and systems created after WWII have led to twin crises: climate change and continued inequality. It’s necessary to unpack these theories to better understand their impacts and relation to climate breakdown and figure out more effective economic strategies...

The traditional economic concepts that the Global North has been using since WWII assume that there is an infinite planet and that pollution has no economic consequences - assumptions that are wildly wrong. In contrast, ecological economics is a model designed to respect the fact that our economy exists on a finite planet and puts more emphasis on the quality of economic activity than its quantity. But a shift in mindset of this magnitude to embrace this new way of thinking requires guidance...

In this episode, we discuss what cities can do - and are already doing - to combat climate change, while also considering how cities can communicate these policies. Communication means exchanging and listening to ideas; and in the climate context, to fight back against the propaganda of the fossil fuel industry, far-right political movements and online conspiracy theorists. Mayors and governments need to think about how they communicate with their constituents about their plans for phasing...

Striving for Climate Justice and Resilience is one of the most important goals at the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and C40 Cities. The forthcoming Volume 2.3 of the journal will be dedicated specifically to climate justice and resilience because the people and places least responsible for the problem are the ones who often bear the largest burden, and cities need to be doing their part to make resilience more equitable. Featured guests: Geci Karuri-Sebina is an Associate...

There’s a crucial link between good green jobs and public transport - in London, and around the world. This episode features a live podcast conversation that was organised by C40 Cities and the International Transport Workers Federation and recorded at London Climate Action Week in June 2023. Inspired by the mission of delivering a fair, inclusive, and just climate transition, this session titled “Investing in public transport: boosting green jobs and climate action” includes voices from...

As we aim toward a 1.5 degree future, we need to fundamentally shift the way we lead our cities. One substantial change is that cities need to look to a new form of governance - one that places climate action at its heart. A critical tool for cities is a climate budget: a governance system that offers a way for cities to turn climate commitments into funded and measurable actions across their government. C40 recently worked with a group of international cities to adapt climate budgeting to...

According to the UN, cities generate up to 75 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions - so we know that cities are the key to unlocking many of our much-needed climate solutions. While larger cities with greater population densities have bigger ecological footprints, emissions are being generated by all cities from around the world; small but mighty cities have a critical role to play too. We all share the same coastlines, and we all breathe the same air - and it might be time to look to...