Cities and Climate Change: An Urgent Agenda

Released in December 2010, this World Bank report provides stark evidence on how city form and lifestyles impact global greenhouse gas emissions, and conveys the need for immediate action. It focuses on three broad issues: (1) How cities contribute to and are affected by climate change; (2) How policies in cities can change human behaviour and begin to address climate change; and (3) How cities should use climate change as an opportunity to raise their profile, implement good policies, and move toward sustainable communities, the most important ingredient of sustainable development. 

Cities and Climate Change: An Urgent Agenda is one in a series of activities generated from a Joint Work Programme between UNEP, UN-HABITAT and the World Bank on Cities and Climate Change, with support by the Cities Alliance. Others activities include a note on climate finance, the Mayors’ Task Force on Urban Poverty and Climate Change, the Urban Risk Assessment, and the Mayor’s Handbook on Adaptation.