Public Content Library

03-18-2019 17:13

District Energy

Key Messages

Climate policies on building retrofits, bus networks and district energy and cooling can generate millions of jobs, save households billions of dollars, and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths related to urban pollution all over the world.
The report helps policymakers establish the case for climate action by providing evidence on how climate measures are interrelated with, and support, other urban policy goals.
Climate Opportunity shows that mitigating climate change through ambitious policies can help cities achieve their broader social and economic agendas and deliver outcomes for health and prosperity.
By using Climate Opportunity’s methodology and tools, policymakers can investigate further linkages between ambitious climate measures and their social and economic priorities.

Introduction

Cities account for 73 % of global GHG emissions (IEA 2016); if nations should be able to deliver on their commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement, it is necessary to encourage and facilitate large-scale urban climate action. Achieving substantial reductions in energy-related emissions requires simultaneous climate action across sectors.

Detailed, practical, and scientifically robust information exists on what type of climate actions urban areas can and must take to reduce their emissions. The aim of the Climate Opportunity report is to help local and national policymakers to establish the case for action by providing evidence on how climate policies are interrelated with, and deliver outcomes for, health, wealth and other development agendas.

The Climate Opportunity report outlines the benefits for three highly effective climate actions and provides local and national policymakers with a guiding methodology for how cities and nations can evaluate these impacts and develop their own robust cases for climate action policies.