BETTER CITY-COMPANY COLLABORATION COULD CUT EMISSIONS EVEN FURTHER
04/12/2024
Research from one of the Earth Commission’s working groups reveals that aligning climate targets between major colocated cities and businesses could amplify emissions reductions by 67%, driving significant progress toward sustainability. The study’s authors call for collaborative strategies to align ambition levels and accelerate global action.
A new analysis published in Nature Sustainability highlights the untapped potential cities and companies have in addressing global environmental challenges. The study finds that better alignment of science-based targets for climate action between urban centers and the companies located within them could boost efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
The cities that emit the most often host the headquarters of the largest emitting businesses. Yet, there are inconsistencies in how these cities and companies, operating in the same regions, often set separate targets.
For example, Tokyo, home to 27 major emitting companies, has seen less than half of these firms adopt any meaningful targets. Such misalignments represent missed opportunities for impactful collaboration.
Image: Professor Şiir Kilkiş (TÜBİTAK)
“City–company collaborations through aligned science-based target setting hold untapped catalytic potential. There is enormous value in joining-up and aligning science-based targets and this is a key opportunity, especially when top emitters are involved. Our analysis reveals the potential and need for such collaboration, also recognising the interconnections across the Earth System Boundaries”, says lead-author Professor Şiir Kilkiş, Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey.
The research was carried out by a working group of the Earth Commission focussed on translating its global assessments on safe and just Earth System Boundaries into concrete targets for actors like businesses and cities. The workstream is led by Xuemei Bai, Distinguished Professor at the Fenner School of Environment and Society at The Australian National University.
“Cities and companies have the collective power to make and influence structural decisions and can be nimbler and more willing to act than national governments,” the authors write.
Lead authors of the paper are working group members Şiir Kilkiş and Anders Bjørn, Assistant Professor at the Technical University of Denmark. Co-authors include Varsha Vijay and Oscar Sabag from the Science Based Targets Network (SBTN), which engages with cities and businesses and helps develop guidelines to turn scientific boundaries into clear, actionable targets for them.
Both the Commission and SBTN are parts of the Global Commons Alliance, a coalition working to transform our economic systems to ensure our planet remains habitable.
The paper, published Dec. 4, shows that 110 cities with net-zero targets and 22 companies with science-based targets are on track to reduce 3.41 gigatons of CO2 of annual emission. However, if they were to align their targets and collaborate with other nearby cities and companies, this could potentially increase reductions by 67%, cutting out 5.7 gigatons of CO2 annually.
The authors recommend proactive strategies such as shared target setting, better regulatory frameworks, and incentive structures to encourage partnerships. They note successful examples like Cape Town, which engages companies to promote carbon neutrality, and Vancouver, which monitors emissions from firms located there.
Cape Town has also taken steps to address critical water shortages by collaborating with local companies to improve water-use efficiency and manage resources more sustainably. Aligning targets between cities like Cape Town and water-intensive industries could further amplify these efforts and reduce environmental pressures.
Read the full article here.
