“Climate Emergency” the New Thing, Makes Cities Cut Emissions Faster

Cities around the world are declaring a “climate emergency” and are working on new ways to cut emissions even faster than they had initially planned.

England’s Bristol, for example, had a target of reaching net zero emissions by 2050. But in late 2018, it became the first city to declare a “climate emergency”, changing its target to reaching net zero by 2030. The goal even includes emissions from producing goods and services consumed in the city, even if the production happened outside of it.

Barcelona, Spain also declared a climate emergency this past January, with an action plan on how to meet the ambitious target of cutting its emissions by half by 2030.

Over 1,300 local governments across 25 countries have now declared a climate emergency, according to advocacy group The Climate Mobilization. The EIT Climate-KIC “Deep Demonstrations” program, a European-funded initiative, is helping countries perform “radical climate action” by giving each city five million euros within five years – with a hope to reach 100 cities by 2030.