Accessible climate science for urban policymakers

Climate science must be accessible to urban policymakers because, without them, it will be impossible to limit global warming to 1.5°C. This is why the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has produced a special summary report for Urban Policymakers to take action locally.

The report summarises key information for cities, with help from city practitioners and NGOs.

The science

Cities offer a unique opportunity to limit global temperature rise. This is one of the key findings of the Summary for Urban Policymakers of the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C. The report details how city leaders can take action faster than other levels of government and they can more easily innovate scalable solutions than other levels of government. The report also finds that collaboration across all levels and sectors is the key.

Amanda Eichel, Executive Director, Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy noted, “there is no historical precedent for this kind of coordination, and systemic change at this scale will require a coordinated effort on many fronts, as well as solution-driven and outcomeoriented partnerships. The Summary for Urban Policymakers of the IPCC SR1.5 is a first step in that direction and something our new Innovate4Cities initiative aims to replicate.”

The Global Covenant of Mayors and C40 Cities convened eighteen authors from the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C to develop the Summary for Urban Policymakers with input from city officials. “The sobering conclusion of the Summary for Urban Policy Makers is that we need to pursue aggressive strategies to limit global heating to 1.5°C, while preparing our towns, cities and regions for warming already underway. 1.5°C is likely to become the most important number in human history” said Mark Watts, Executive Director, C40 Cities.