Bolder climate action in cities could yield $583bn economic boost

A raft of green policy actions across city transport, buildings and industry around the world could yield up to $583bn in economic benefits while delivering significant benefits for climate, air pollution and human health, new global research today suggests.

Led by the C40 Cities group, the research sets out ambitious actions to achieve clean transport, buildings and industry in combination with decarbonised power grids.

At present cities are responsible for 70 per cent of global CO2 emissions, and the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates 80 per cent of people in cities are exposed to unsafe air quality.

But the research argues implementing bolder greener actions could see an 87 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a 49 per cent cut in fine particle pollution (PM2.5), helping to avert as many as 223,000 premature deaths.

Moreover, the economic benefits could be as much as $583bn, the research estimates.

C40 executive director Mark Watts said the research provides "a business case for what mayors have long known to be true: taking bold climate action also improves public health". "There is no longer any trade-off for cities between delivering policies that benefit the environment, drive economic growth and improve the health of citizens," he added.

The research was funded by consumer healthcare giant Johnson & Johnson Services Inc. and was carried out by C40 in collaboration with consultancy BuroHappold and experts from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Cambridge Environmental Research Consultants.

Bold policy actions recommended in the paper include encouraging walking, cycling and mass transit, alongside stringent emissions standards and zero emission zones for public and private combustion engines to help shift towards cleaner forms of road transport.

It also points to the benefits of tough emissions standards for new buildings, and ambitious efficiency retrofits of older buildings to improve heating, ventilation, air conditioning, and lighting.

In industry, actions to encourage energy efficient technologies, the capture of greenhouse gas emissions and rigorous maintenance and monitoring of operations, processes and construction could also reap significant environmental, health and cost benefits, according to the research.

C40 vice-chair and the Mayor of Ecuador's capital city Quito Mauricio Rodas said taking bold action on climate would help enable sustainable development in cities. "By supporting and implementing actions for a cleaner public transport like strengthening opacity regulations, creating a zero emissions zone at the historic centre and migrating to a municipal electric bus fleet, we will improve air quality, public health and make our cities more liveable," he said.