How U.S. Cities Make Progress on Climate Action

This is a guest post by Courtney Humphries, author of Climate Change and the Future of Boston

As the United States formally withdrew from the Paris Agreement this January for the second time, it became abundantly clear that local climate action in the country is more important than ever. Many city and state governments have united to work towards meeting the Paris Agreement goals without federal support; 35 of the 50 largest cities in the United States have climate action plans. While cities are limited in what they can accomplish without federal funding and enabling policies, there are reasons to be hopeful at what local action can achieve.

Amid the rapidly growing threats of climate change, cities are often described as both a major cause of climate change and one of our best hopes for averting a catastrophic future. Urban areas drive economic activity, house a growing proportion of the world’s population and produce about 70% of greenhouse gas emissions. They also can concentrate and amplify climate-related risks such as flooding, extreme heat and infectious disease, as well as social inequalities in climate-related impacts and opportunities. Efforts to reduce global emissions and adapt to climate risks necessarily mean transforming many aspects of urban infrastructure, processes and social behaviour.

Beginning around 20 years ago, a wave of optimism around cities – and particularly mayors as climate champions – led to new coalitions and networks like C40 Cities and Climate Mayors, networks that helped enable a multilevel governance of climate change that transcends political boundaries. But as we look at what cities have accomplished since then, it’s clear that they face challenges meeting emissions goals and implementing climate adaptation plans. These challenges arise from larger political structures in state and national government, economic incentives, institutional path dependencies and social resistance from residents and business sectors. At the same time, cities’ accomplishments towards more sustainable and resilient urban systems are not just the result of forward-thinking mayors. They have required collective and collaborative work on the part of residents, institutions and government.

I had this larger context in mind when writing my book with Anthem Press, Climate Change and the Future of Boston. This book grew out of efforts by the Urban Climate Change Research Network at Columbia University to document the state of urban climate action and collect case studies of challenges and innovative solutions across the world. As an extended case study of one city – Boston, Massachusetts – the book takes a deep dive into understanding the complexities and dynamics of climate governance at the local level.

Studying one city’s climate story underscores that there is no ‘off-the-shelf’ solution to any urban climate issue, whether it is decarbonising buildings, promoting public transportation or adapting to sea level rise and extreme heat. Boston has enacted notable policies, including an ordinance that requires large buildings to reach carbon neutrality by 2050 and a zoning overlay district that requires resiliency measures for buildings constructed in the projected 2070 floodplain. It has engaged in a proactive planning process for sea level rise, and it has integrated social equity into its planning for extreme heat and urban forestry. It is also one of the few U.S. cities to adopt a Green New Deal platform, and its municipal government has worked to integrate environmental, social and economic goals in its planning and administration.

While Boston certainly owes these accomplishments to strong mayoral leadership, its key strength is its broader ecosystem of residents, nonprofit groups, academic and research institutions, business associations and philanthropies working collectively to keep the city moving forward on these goals even in face of federal pullbacks. It is these collective efforts, forged over many years, that give the city the power to continue making progress on climate goals.