C40 Cities has announced the 35 finalists competing in ten urban climate action categories for the fourth-annual C40 Cities Awards. A selection committee of urban sustainability and climate change experts at C40 and Sustainia assessed the 160 applications from 75 cities. The five assessment criteria include: climate action, co-benefits, innovation, governance and ability to share and scale the project.
Mark Watts, Executive Director, C40, told Cities Today that the judging criteria will have an even greater focus on the co-benefits that the projects deliver. “The winners are likely to be those cities that can show they are not just cutting greenhouse gas emissions or adapting to the effects of climate change, but are also using these projects to address public health, social equity or economic development,” he said.
Watts highlighted that the awards are not merely a ‘gong’ and recognition but are the start of a process to share city success stories. The finalist cities by category are:
Climate Action Plans & Inventories
Portland – 2015 Climate Action Plan (CAP)
Paris – Paris Climate and Energy Action Plan – 2012-2020
Cape Town – Energy and Climate Change Programme – Energy2040 Vision and Energy and Climate Action Plan
Buenos Aires – Buenos Aires Climate Change Action Plan based on a GPC compliant GHG Inventory
Adaptation Plans & Assessments
New York City – New York City Resilient Neighborhoods Studies
Paris – Paris Adaptation Strategy: Towards a more resilient city
Belo Horizonte – Climate Change Vulnerability Assessment of the city of Belo Horizonte
Building Energy Efficiency
San Francisco – San Francisco’s Comprehensive Approach to Energy Efficiency Market Transformation
Guangzhou – Green Public Institutions in Guangzhou
Melbourne & Sydney – CitySwitch Green Office
Clean Energy
Vancouver – Vancouver Neighbourhood Energy Strategy
Yokohama – Yokohama Smart City Project
Washington, DC – Walter F. Bailey Bioenergy Facility
Johannesburg – Joburg BioGas to Energy Programme
Finance & Economic Development
Toronto – Unique Retrofit Financing through HELP (Home Energy Loan Programme) and Hi-RIS (High-Rise Retrofit Improvement Support)
Canberra – Reverse Auctions – Securing 100% Renewable Electricity for Canberra by 2020
Shenzhen – Shenzhen Emissions Trading System
Solid Waste
Milan – Do not waste food, but reduce food waste
Auckland – Auckland: Waste to Resources
Kolkata – Kolkata Solid Waste Management Improvement Project (KSWMIP)
Adaptation in Action
Hong Kong – Quest for Sustainable Use of Water Resources in Hong Kong
San Francisco – San Francisco’s Non-potable Water Programme
Copenhagen – Copenhagen’s Cloudburst Management Plan – Project Implementation
Transportation
Houston – The New METRO: Making Transit Work for Houston
Addis Ababa – Addis Ababa Light Rail Transit Project
Wuhan – Wuhan Huantou Public Bicycle Service System
Mexico City – Mexico City’s Comprehensive Mobility Programme 2013-2018
Taiyuan – Taiyuan New Energy Vehicle Promotion Project
Sustainable Communities
Cape Town – City of Cape Town – Transit Oriented Development Strategic Framework (TODSF), March 2016
Toronto – Sustainable Neighbourhood Retrofit Action Plan (SNAP)
Auckland – Wynyard Quarter Redevelopment, Auckland, New Zealand
Curitiba – Urban Agriculture in Curitiba
Social Equity & Climate Change
New York City – Inclusive Growth and Climate Action through OneNYC
Portland – 2015 Climate Action Plan (CAP)
Seoul – Energy Welfare Public-Private Partnership (PPP) Programme
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