The most recent report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) showed a stark scenario. It highlighted that little progress has been made in terms of limiting temperatures to 1.5 degrees above pre-industrial levels; and in order to meet such a goal, emissions must peak in the next couple of years. While the report showed some scepticism about the potential of some technologies designed to limit emissions, there was some optimism around cities. Debra Roberts, the IPCC cochair, recently referred to cities as “a key place for mobilisation”1.
But why does the IPPC focus on cities, an invention from thousands of years ago with a reputation for bad air quality, in a world where electric vehicles and machines that suck carbon from the air are developing rapidly?
THE URBAN FOOTPRINT SHAPES OUR CARBON EMISSIONS
Cities have shows that, within the UK, cities on average emit 2.3 tons less of carbon (35 per cent less) per year than towns and rural areas. More than half of this gap is explained by lower transport-related carbon emissions.
