WHAT ABOUT CITIES? Engines of emissions or hubs of innovation? 

More than half of the world’s population now lives in cities – and that number keeps growing. Cities are engines of opportunity and economic growth, but they also generate vast amounts of waste, pollution, and emissions. Yet by bringing together people, ideas, and investments, cities also become hubs of innovation where climate solutions can emerge and scale.

In this episode, James and Daisy explore the relationship between climate and cities. How is climate change reshaping urban life? How are cities adapting? And how can cities lead the way towards a more sustainable future?

SOME RECOMMENDATIONS:

• C40 Cities – A network of nearly 100 mayors taking collective action on climate. 3 in 4 C40 cities are reducing per capita emissions faster than their national governments.
• Cities & Regions Hub at COP30 – Elevates the role of subnational governments as key actors in the COP process and anchors their contributions to the global climate agenda.

OTHER ADVOCATES AND RESOURCES:

• Sustainable Development Commission – Formerly the UK Government's independent adviser on sustainable development (closed in 2011).
• Clover Hogan (2024) – People should stop buying electric cars and instead ask, “how do we redesign mobility?”
• SUN Mobility – Aims to establish one of the largest battery swapping networks by 2030, accelerating the adoption of electric vehicles.
• Smart Surfaces Coalition – Helps cities make “smart” surface decisions by demonstrating the value of surfaces that manage the sun and rain.
• The Wildlife Trusts (2022) – Bauer Outdoor Media aimed to have instal 150 bee bus stops across the UK by the end of 2022.

• ULEZ – London’s Ultra Low Emission Zone is the largest clean air zone in the world.
• Sadiq Khan (2025) – “It was predicted to take 193 years to meet legal limits for air pollution in London – we did it in 9.”
• London National Park City – Declared in July 2019, with 49.7% of the city made up of green and blue space.
• Wild West End – A partnership between property owners (including The Crown Estate) to create ecological corridors between London’s Royal Parks and garden squares.
• LBC (2025) – Oxford Street was car-free for a day and footfall rose nearly 50% as thousands rediscovered the joy of a truly public space.
• BBC (2024) – Honeybees account for 57% of all pollinating insects within the City of London despite being only one of 270 UK bee species.

• Paris – The 2021-2026 cycling plan aims to make Paris a fully cycle-friendly city, expanding bike infrastructure, secure parking systems, and the cycling ecosystem.
• Barcelona – The Master Plan for Barcelona’s Trees 2017-2037 aims to increase the city’s tree cover by 5% so that 30% of the city is covered by trees.
• The Guardian (2025) – In Jerez de la Frontera in Spain green canopies of grapevines cool streets by up to 8°C.

• UNDP (2024) – In Lima, Peru, fog catcher technology and automated irrigation are used to harvest water from fog oases. In Lagos, Nigeria, economic losses from flooding are already US$4 billion per year. Indonesia is set to replace Jakarta, the world's fastest-sinking city, with a newly planned capital that has yet to be built.
• Singapore – The “garden city” vision was introduced by then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew on 11 May 1967.
• BBC (2024) – Nearly half of China's major cities are sinking due to water extraction and the increasing weight of their rapid expansion. Shanghai has sunk over 3m in a century.
• NEOM – A futuristic mega-project in Saudi Arabia designed to harness technology, sustainability, and development.

SOME FACTS:

• UNEP – Cities only occupy 3% of the Earth’s land surface.
• World Bank – Over 4 billion people live in cities. By 2050, it will be nearly 7 in 10. Cities produce over 70% of global GHG emissions and account for 80% of global GDP.  Since 1985, over 75,000 km2 of new urban land, equivalent to about 50 times the area of Greater London, has been developed in areas prone to severe flooding.
• IPCC (2021) – Urban emissions rose from 25 GtCO2-eq (about 62% of global share) in 2015 to 29 GtCO2-eq (67–72%) in 2020.
• UNEP – Cities consume over 75% of natural resources.
• UNEP (2021) – The world’s cities are heating up at twice the global average rate due to rapid urbanization and the urban heat island effect. By 2100, many cities could warm as much as 4°C.
• WEF (2018) – By 2100, 13 of the world’s largest megacities will be located in Africa; none in the Americas, China, or Europe.

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