The City-Business Climate Alliance (CBCA) has officially launched and is calling on cities to join.
The CBCA is a joint initiative of C40 Cities, CDP and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) designed to accelerate climate action through city-business collaboration.
Cities are uniquely positioned to meet the challenges of the climate emergency. They have influence over a huge range of assets and functions. Cities also have the most ambitious political leaders when it comes to climate – mayors who are acting now across key areas of renewables, transport, buildings and waste to reduce carbon emissions.
We know that no single group can solve the climate crisis alone. A global issue calls for a global effort. Cities are shaped and financed by the private sector – so cross-sector collaboration is vital to deliver change at the pace and scale we need to avoid catastrophic environmental failure.
For instance, a city cannot simply retrofit its building stock without addressing the commercial and private sectors. A city transitioning its vehicle fleet to electric will have a limited effect without corporate fleets also making the shift – or without help installing EV charging stations. Removing barriers to city and business working collaboration is fundamental to implement the ambitious, coordinated local climate action necessary to slash emissions, and secure the prosperous and climate-safe future we all want.
This is why C40, CDP and WBCSD are collaborating – to foster city and business partnerships that unlock joint transformative climate action. They are now inviting city governments to express their interest in joining the CBCA in 2020.
The City-Business Climate Alliance is a global two-tier network of cities and businesses designed to create systemic change through data-driven, joint climate action. On a local level, the initiative will implement a blueprint to create local city-business partnerships, and develop and scale transformative climate projects. On a global level, it will connect local partnerships to a network providing peer-to-peer support and opportunities to collaborate with climate-engaged global businesses for joint advocacy and action.
Given the different urban and business-related contexts in which cities and the private sector operate, there is no single, ‘one size fits all’ model for building a city-business partnership on climate action. However, a number of principles will apply to all city-business partnerships formed as part of the Alliance. The new partnerships will all:
- be non-commercial spaces based on transparency and data;
- be financially sustainable over time;
- generate systemic transformations in the way the city collaborates with businesses;
- create new markets, building a pipeline of projects that address the need to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, adapt to the impacts of climate change and deliver on the wider social, environmental and economic benefits of climate action.
The City-Business Climate Alliance builds on the successful experience of the London Business Climate Leaders (LBCL), an initiative supported by C40, CDP, The B Team and the We Mean Business Coalition, which saw the Mayor of London working together with leading companies to translate their corporate global emissions reduction targets into practical actions at city-level, as well as a review of 30 city-business partnerships from around the world.
More details about the scope, objectives, and application process can be found in the Expression of Interest Form.