Cities 1.5

Cities 1.5 Host David Miller’s book Solved: How the World’s Greatest Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis has just been released to paperback in a revised version and with an all new chapter just in time for World Book and Copyright Day! In it, he chronicles the stories of cities who have taken action to meet - and exceed - the emissions targets laid out in the Paris Agreement to transition away from fossil fuels.

In this episode, we turn the tables: David takes his place in  the interviewee hotseat, and his editor, Jodi Lewchuk, asks him about writing Solved.

Stay tuned after the interview to hear an excerpt from the Solved audiobook now available on Audible, read by David himself.

Guest host:
Jodi Lewchuck is an Acquisitions Editor with the University of Toronto Press, and was the editor for Solved: How the World’s Greatest Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis. Jodi is passionate about acquiring books that shift the narrative and lead to social change, including scholarly work in environmental studies, urban studies, Indigenous studies, geography, anthropology, and sociology. She relishes supporting books and authors that find new ways to engage readers and highlight social issues.

Links
My Country is on Fire. We know who the arsonists are - by David Miller, C40 Centre of City Climate Policy & Economy newsletter
The cost of fossil gas: The health, economic and environmental implications for cities - C40 website
How cities can climate budget - Cities 1.5 podcast
Funders’ Focus: Philanthropic efforts that are driving the fight against climate breakdown - CIties 1.5 podcast, featuring Jesper Nygård, CEO of Realdania
Herman Daly’s Great Debates: The enduring vitality of Ecological Economics - Cities 1.5 podcast
Disinformation thrives in times of crisis - Cities 1.5 podcast, featuring Jennie King from ISDD

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

 By 2035, global fossil fuel use must be reduced to 50% of 2020 levels - or else we will face uncertain and serious consequences. But the fossil fuel industry keeps forging ahead, making billions at the expense of all of us, through attempts to re-brand fossil gas as a clean energy alternative, using disinformation narratives to delay and deceive, and advocating for the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure. One way to combat these actions of the fossil fuel industry is to collate and make available existing fossil fuel infrastructure. In other words, to map it.

Photo by Zaptec on Unsplash

Featured guests:
Faye Holder is a Program Manager at InfluenceMap, a think tank which produces data-driven analysis on how business and finance are impacting the climate crisis. Faye manages InfluenceMap’s workstreams on 'Oil and Gas' and 'Digital Media and Advertising', and has carried out vital work on exposing The International Gas Union’s Climate Strategy in a wide-ranging report. Faye has also worked in partnership with C40 to create resources for mayors, cities and youth in order to debunk the myths and false claims made by the fossil gas industry and to demystify fossil fuel disinformation.

Ted Nace is the founder and Executive Director of Global Energy Monitor, which develops and analyzes data on energy infrastructure, resources, and uses, and provides open access to information that is essential to building a sustainable energy future. Ted is also the co-founder of computer book publisher Peachpit Press and is the author of Gangs of America: The Rise of Corporate Power and the Disabling of Democracy and Climate Hope: On the Front Lines of the Fight Against Coal.

Links
The cost of fossil gas: The health, economic and environmental implications for cities - C40 Knowledge Hub
Disinformation Thrives in Times of Crisis - Cities 1.5
Lobbymap.org
Reality Check: US Renewable Energy Portfolios Can Outcompete New

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Next time on Cities 1. 5, it's a special takeover episode! Acquisitions Editor at University of Toronto Press, Jodi Lewchuk, interviews David about his book, Solved: How the World's Great Cities Are Fixing The Climate Crisis. Solved has just been released in paperback this week with an all-new chapter.

David will be at the University of Toronto Bookstore on Wednesday, April 17th to celebrate the launch. Visit utpjournals.press for all the details - we'd love to see you there.  And tune in to the next episode of Cities 1. 5 to hear Jodi turn the tables on David and interview him about Solved. You won't want to miss it!

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Cities stand on the frontline of the climate crisis - so they must also work to create frontline policies that support the global systems change required to ensure that cities have a future. Thanks to philanthropic support from both Global North and Global South organisations, the scientists, artists, and community leaders around the world who are making a climate-assured future possible are ensuring we are one step closer to this becoming reality.

Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash

Featured guests:
Jesper Nygård is the CEO of Realdania, a Danish philanthropic association.  As a C40 partner, Realdania has contributed significantly to research and projects that examine the intersection of the climate crisis and the built environment to enable more effective urban climate action. Under Jesper’s tenure, Realdania and C40 created the world-leading DK2020 project, ensuring that all 98 municipalities in Denmark will have created a climate action plan by the end of 2024. The follow on project, the Climate Alliance, will concentrate on delivering these planned actions.

Cléa Daridan is a Senior Curator and Cultural Lead with the philanthropic organization Community Jameel, which supports scientists, humanitarians, technologists and creatives to understand and address pressing human challenges - particularly in the Global South. Community Jameel has funded the Climate Labs in partnership with C40 and J-PAL. Cléa also has many  interesting insights into how climate projects might fuse with health, arts and culture going forward.

Links
Mark Watts’ speech at the C40 World Mayors’ Summit in Mexico City
From local action to global impact: Denmark’s groundbreaking climate action planning - C40 website
Analysis of the emissions reduction contributions of Danish municipalities towards meeting the 70% target by 2030 - C40 Knowledge Hub

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Efforts to address the climate crisis are under siege beneath a rising tide of mis- and disinformation, with smear campaigns often funded and coordinated by vested interests such as the fossil fuel industry, climate conspiracists looking for cash and clicks, and even national governments. We all have a part to play - we must take responsibility for the information we consume and share to ensure a prosperous, healthy future for ourselves…and our planet.

Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash

Featured in this episode: Xuemei Bai, distinguished professor for Urban Environment and Human Ecology at the Australian National University

Featured guests:
Jennie King is the Director of Climate Research and Policy at the Institute of Strategic Dialogue (ISD) and co-founder of the Climate Action Against Disinformation Coalition (CAAD). She has spearheaded investigations on climate denialism and ‘discourses of delay’ around the world, and has co-authored a number of ISD’s flagship reports on this issue.

Hélène Chartier is C40’s Director of Urban Planning and Design. She and her team develop programmes and activities that support cities to accelerate sustainable and resilient urban planning policies and design practices, including the C40 workstream on 15-minute cities.

Links
How climate change misinformation spreads online - Carbon Brief
The Nexus Between Green Backlash and Democratic Backsliding in Europe
CAAD Data Monitor Vol.1: 15-Minute Cities
The 15-minute city is transforming life for urban dwellers for the better - Mark Watts
15 minute cities: How they got caught in conspiracy theories - BBC News
Carlos Moreno: ‘I received violent death threats for inventing the 15-minute city’ - The Telegraph

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Being able to breathe clean air should be a human right but, according to the World Health Organization 99% of the world’s population lives in areas exceeding safe pollution limits, which has huge impacts on public health. Air pollution, climate impacts, and social justice are three sides of the same issue, demanding an intersectional response that not only makes space for the voices of the most impacted, but also the most disenfranchised. 

Image Credit: Photo by Sai De Silva on Unsplash

Featured in this episode: The Great Smog of London, 1952, BBC Archive, Originally broadcast 5 December, 1962

Featured guests:
Agnes Agyepong is the founder and CEO of Global Black Maternal Health (GBMH), an organisation placing research and agency back into the hands of Black communities as change agents in their own health narratives. Key areas of research at GBMH include the impact of air pollution on Black women and their children. GBMH also supports the “Black Child Clean Air” initiative and the “Clean Air Wins” campaign.

Dolly Oladini is C40’s Senior Manager for Air Quality, bringing together global cities within the C40 Air Quality Network to share best practices and solutions for improving international air quality. Dolly previously worked as a senior policy officer for the mayor of London, where she promoted the T-Charge and Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) policies.

Links
The Cost of Fossil Gas: Policy Recommendations for a Clean Energy Transition and a Swift Gas Phase-out in Cities
A Pathway to Prioritizing and Delivering Healthy and Sustainable Cities
C40 Clean Air Accelerator
C40 Knowledge Hub - Air Quality Resources

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Ecological economics lies at the heart of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and C40’s mission. It recognises that the former gold standard of measuring economic success – the growth of gross domestic product, or GDP – is no longer fit for purpose, despite the fact that it’s the model that most national governments still rely on. Policies that allow us to prioritize the vitality of both people and the environment  - and potentially a systemic re-think of our economic global systems - are vital for the welfare of our world. Existing and developing technologies cannot solve all of our problems: transitioning away from oil and gas and stopping unsustainable growth and overconsumption are the first steps to ensuring a future for our planet – and for us.

Image Credit: Photo by Nik on Unsplash

Featured guests:
Peter Victor is a world-leading expert in the field of ecological economics and the author of several books, including his latest, Escape from Overshoot: Economics for a Planet in Peril. He is also the author of the biography Herman Daly’s Economics for a Full World: His Life and Ideas and recently published a commentary in Volume 2, Issue 2 of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, titled “Herman Daly’s Great Debates,” which delves into the concepts national and city governments can and should be implementing from Daly’s extensive and formative works.

Links
Herman Daly’s obituary by Professor Peter Victor
Canadian Society of Ecological Economics
Book review, Managing without Growth
Global Footprint Network
Finance and Economics - C40 Knowledge Hub
Earth Overshoot Day

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Last year's COP28 conference ended with a historic first: after dramatic and tense negotiations lasting deep into the night, representatives from across the globe agreed upon a roadmap to transition away from dirty energy. But does the agreement fall short of what is required if the world is to avoid breaching crucial and deadly climate tipping points? 

Image Credit: © Maurizio Martorana - C40

Featured guests:
Mark Watts, executive director of C40 Cities, is building a reputation as one of the most prominent thought leaders in the urban climate action space, and was recently recognised as such in the Time 100 Climate list. Mark’s aim for C40 entails supporting its network of cities in halving global emissions this decade, while simultaneously reducing inequality and implementing inclusive climate policies.

Professor Xuemei Bai is a distinguished professor for Urban Environment and Human Ecology at the Australian National University. She was also the winner of the 2018 Volvo Environmental Prize, and is an elected fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. Professor Bai has served as a lead author for numerous global climate policy initiatives, including IPCC AR6 and is also a commissioner at the Earth Commission, which has set out crucial tipping points the world must not pass to avoid planetary collapse.

Links
Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy
Collapse by Jared Diamond
Solved: How the World’s Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis
Ports & Shipping - C40 website
Translating Earth system boundaries for cities and businesses - Nature
Build networked resilience across cities. - Science - Professor Xuemei Bai
C40 North America mayors' response to wildfires and air quality crisis in the region

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

The UN Women slogan for International Women’s Day 2024 is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress,” and in support of this goal we’re opening Season 3 of Cities 1.5 with a production team takeover! David Miller may be the voice of the podcast, but our amazing production team is all female. Also, we hear from two amazing women who are working to ensure that women’s voices are heard, mainstreamed and amplified, and that their needs are centred in the battle to stop climate breakdown.

Image Credit: Photo by Ruben Hutabarat on Unsplash

Featured guests:
Xiye Bastida is a youth climate activist, co-founder the Re-Earth Initiative, lead organizer of Fridays for Future New York City, and Secretariat Team Member of Future Generations Tribunal. Born in Atlacomulco, Mexico, Xiye is a proud member of the Otomi-Toltec Indigenous community. She is an undergraduate student set to receive her bachelor’s degree from the prestigious University of Pennsylvania this year, and will also be debuting The Whale Lagoon, a film she co-wrote and executive produced.

Silvia Marcon is the Head of Global Leadership at C40. She works with the Chair of C40, Mayor of Paris Anne Hidalgo, her team in Paris, and the C40 Executive Director team to set the Chair’s strategic vision, implement their priorities, and coordinate Steering Committee engagement. Silvia leads the Women4Climate initiative, designed to advance and support the emergence of the next generation of female climate leaders in C40 Cities.

Special thanks to Jess, Peggy, and Dali of the Cities 1.5 Production Team for lending their voices to this episode.

Links
The Lasting Legacy of Women4Climate
Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy
United Nations: International Women’s Day March 8
The Re-Earth Initiative
Xiye Bastida website
How Xiye Bastida Became a Leader in the Climate Fight

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

This past December, COP28 signalled the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era. 150 heads of state came to the consensus that in order to halve emissions by 2030 - the target that scientists have warned us be must adhere to in order to avoid climate catastrophe - we must transition away from dirty energy. This is a monumental moment for our planet…and cities are going to be leading the way as we execute on these actions.

In season 3 of Cities 1.5, host David Miller is speaking to urban leaders who are driving change locally, with global impacts. Featuring guests like:
- Xiye Bastida, Youth Climate Activist
- Mark Watts, C40 Executive Director
- Agnes Agyepong, Founder and CEO of Global Black Maternal Health
- ...and more!

Season 3 of Cities 1.5 debuts March 5, with a new episode every Tuesday after that. 

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been warning us for decades that record-breaking, hot, fire- and smoke-filled summers like the one we just experienced will continue to be the new normal without huge and immediate cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions. The latest IPCC report serves as our last warning: carry on as we are and we’ll face ever-increasing extreme climate events, such as the terrible wildfires which just raged across Canada, leading to loss of life, property and livelihoods, as well as impacting on the health of millions. In our season two finale, we ask an IPCC contributor and a wildfire expert for advice on how to ensure there is a future for us all.

Featured in this episode: António Guterres, UN Secretary General

Featured guests:
Jen Baron is a PhD candidate in the Department of Forest and Conservation Sciences at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada.  Jen has been featured extensively in both print and broadcast media, explaining the causes of the Canadian wildfires, their links to the climate crisis, and how best to prevent and manage them.

Aromar Revi is the Director of India’s Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS). Co-Chair of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, Aromar is one of South Asia’s most experienced risk and disaster management professionals. He was a member of the Core Writing Team of the 2022 AR6 Synthesis Report, and helped produce previous IPCC reports.

Links
Fire and Climate: Connecting the Dots in British Columbia News Media - Canadian Journal of Communication, University Toronto Press
Abrupt, climate-induced increase in wildfires in British Columbia since the mid-2000s - Nature
A century of transformation - Jen Baron et al.
C40 North America mayors' response to wildfires and air quality crisis in the region - C40 website
IPCC Report - 8. Urban Areas - Aromar Revi

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

In the face of enforced mass migration, the rising cost of recovery from increasing climate disasters, and an uncertain future without drastic and immediate action, it’s important to hold up examples of cities and projects that are successful in their innovative climate actions. In this episode, we look at climate projects in Curitiba, Brazil, and Barranquilla, Colombia, that are working towards saving the planet while making their cities more prosperous and resilient.

Featured guests:
Mayor Rafael Greca was elected to his current mayorship of the city of Curitiba, Brazil in 2017. His city participates in the Pathway Towards Zero Waste and Urban Nature C40 Accelerator programs. Curitiba has also produced a number of innovative projects and case studies, including a hydroelectric power plant, water shortage reduction programs, community gardens, modernized bus rapid transit, and the transformation of a landfill into a solar pyramid.

Mayor Jaime Pumarejo was elected Mayor of Barranquilla, Colombia in 2019. Under his leadership, the award-winning Todos al Parque initiative – a massive park regeneration scheme – has transformed Barranquilla, improving the health wellbeing and safety of residents. Due to its location and resources, Barranquilla is also a main landing hub for people displaced by climate change impacts: through his work with the Mayors Migration Council, Mayor Pumajero advocates equitably for all members of Barranquilla’s expanding community.

Links
Solar Energy for Social Housing in Curitiba - C40 Cities
C40-MMC Global Mayors Task Force on Climate and Migration - C40 Cities
Keeping 1.5°C Alive in the Global South: Life or Death - Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy
B

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”: the first line of the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities is an idea that the two cities featured in this episode’s case study know all too well. The Global South’s Nairobi, Kenya and the Global North’s Rotterdam in the Netherlands are half a world apart, but they’re each facing similar and equally dire climate consequences that are caused by and a threat to the major economic driver of import and export in their cities. But in the face of these “worst of times,” both of these cities are implementing the best and most innovative strategies they can to curb climate impact and make their key industries and transportation systems more resilient and sustainable.

Featured guests:
Mayor Ahmed Aboutaleb has helped Rotterdam become one of Europe’s most diverse, dynamic, and multicultural cities. Thanks to his leadership, Rotterdam has evolved into an open and progressive urban centre with a strong emphasis on circularity, sustainability, and innovation. Mayor Aboutaleb has a well-earned global reputation as one of the world’s most respected and appreciated mayors.

Maurice Kavai is the Deputy Director, Climate Change, for Nairobi City County. The main goal of his work is to ensure that climate actions are streamlined within Nairobi’s urban programs, and to anchor all sector initiatives and development plans into the city’s climate action plan. Nairobi urban planning strategies include projects such as their railway city master plan, which will integrate mixed-use development, including affordable housing, with the railway transport network. The city also has previous successes with co-developed, inclusive planning processes, such as that which they undertook with the Mukuru Informal Settlement.

Links
“Keeping 1.5°C Alive in the Global South: Life or Death,” by Pamela Escobar Vargas, Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy.
Dutch landscape shifts with North Sea wind farms, onshore hubs - Reuters
Roadmap ZECL: Moving towards Zero Emission City Logistics in Rotterdam in 2025 - C40 Knowledge Hub
Community-led upgrade to a Nairobi slum could be a model for Africa - The Guardian
Work Begins on Much-Awaited Nairobi Railway City - Construction Kenya

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

July 2023 was the hottest month globally since records began. Combine that with several months filled with a series of extreme weather events - from heatwaves in Europe, North America and Asia, to wildfires in Canada and Greece - and it’s undeniable that the impacts of climate change that experts have long been warning us about are here today. And the worse news is that it’s only going to get hotter.

Featured guests:
Eugenia Kargbo is Freetown, Sierra Leone’s Chief Heat Officer. Her role is the first of its kind in Africa, and her duties include raising public awareness about extreme heat, improving responses to heat waves, and collecting heat impact data for her city of 1.2 million people. Her team’s Freetown the Treetown project was a 2023 nominee for the Protect and Restore Nature Earthshot Award.

Mayor Kostas Bakoyannis served as the Mayor of Athens from 2019 to the end of 2023. He has worked at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and has held positions in the European Parliament in Brussels and the World Bank in Kosovo. He is also the vice president of the Hellenic Agency for Local Development and Local Government, and a Greek Leadership Council member of the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network.

Links:
Hot Cities, Chilled Economies: Freetown, Sierra Leone
Freetown’s highly replicable way of self-financing urban reforestation - C40 Knowledge Hub
Freetown the Treetown - Earthshot
Eleni Myrivili: A three-part plan to take on extreme heat waves - C40 Knowledge Hub
Heatwave tips from Athens: Cool routes app, new pocket parks and renovating a Roman aqueduct - Euronews

Image credit: © Erin Dwi Azmi C40

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Climate breakdown is happening, and the cost of ignoring this phenomenon will be far greater than the cost of immediate action. We know that green investments promote the transition to a more resilient, prosperous, and sustainable economy. But what are the steps that cities need to take in order to shift their investments away from fossil fuels? How can policy makers support the creation of good, green jobs - while still protecting the climate?

Featured guests:
Daniel Zarrilli is the Special Advisor for Climate and Sustainability at Columbia University where he is supporting the creation of its new, world-leading Climate School and advising on pathways to achieve the university’s deep decarbonization goals. During his time working in the NYC Mayor’s Office, New York City committed to divesting entirely from fossil fuel funds and C40 Mayor Blasio (along with current C40 chair, Mayor Sadiq Khan of London) founded the Divest/Invest forum, an initiative aimed to build capacity and knowledge sharing for cities.

Dr Savannah Cox has recently accepted the position of Lecturer in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning at the University of Sheffield in England. She is an interdisciplinary qualitative social scientist studying urban planning for climate change and urban climate justice, with a focus on financial systems and infrastructure.

Dr Zac Taylor is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Management in the Built Environment at Delft University of Technology in the Netherlands. His research advances critical and practical knowledge of climate finance with the place-specific challenges of urban climate action. 

Links
C40 Divest/Invest Forum
"Interrupted rhythms and uncertain futures" - Sarah Knuth, Savannah Cox, Sahar Zavareh Hofmann, John Morris, Zac Taylor & Beki McElvain
Spotlight On: Cities Divest-Invest - C40 Knowledge Hub
Building climate resilience in cities through in

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

C40 and the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy are providing an opportunity for cities to rethink conventional economic systems, like capitalism, that have led to the climate crisis. It is abundantly clear that the economic rules and systems created after WWII have led to twin crises: climate change and continued inequality. It’s necessary to unpack these theories to better understand their impacts and relation to climate breakdown and figure out more effective economic strategies that cities can use to restore justice and health to our planet. But what exactly do cities need to understand - and do - to make this happen?

Featured guests:
Sandrine Dixson-Declève is the co-president of The Club of Rome and an international climate change thought leader. When she is not leading The Club of Rome, she also serves as an advisor, lecturer, and facilitator for difficult conversations about the climate crisis. Recently, The Club of Rome published Earth for All – A Survival Guide for Humanity, which revisits theories behind the degrowth and wellbeing movements that The Club of Rome helped to form fifty years ago. Sandrine was recognised most recently by Reuters as one of 25 global female trailblazers leading the fight against climate change.

Councillor Susan Aitken was elected to the Langside of Glasgow, Scotland, in 2012 and became Leader of Glasgow City Council - the Scottish equivalent to mayor - in 2017. Before being elected, Susan worked in a variety of policy and research roles in the Scottish Parliament and the third sector and as a freelance writer and editor specialising in health and social care policy. She is a graduate of both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities.

Links
“Prosperity Beyond Growth: An Emerging Agenda for European Cities,” by Ben Rogers et al., Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy
“Cities Can Lead the Energy Employment Transition … but They Must Plan for It,” by Jim Stanford
The Limits to Growth
Scientist Johan Rockström Explains Earth's Climate Tipping Points - Global Commons Alliance
Glasgow’s Regional Economic Strategy
Wellbeing economy policy design guide - C40 Knowledge Hub

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

The traditional economic concepts that the Global North has been using since WWII assume that there is an infinite planet and that pollution has no economic consequences - assumptions that are wildly wrong. In contrast, ecological economics is a model designed to respect the fact that our economy exists on a finite planet and puts more emphasis on the quality of economic activity than its quantity. But a shift in mindset of this magnitude to embrace this new way of thinking requires guidance and a proper roadmap if it’s to be successfully integrated into urban policies. This episode sees Cities 1.5 looking to translate the theoretical into the practical by speaking to one of the world’s leading ecological economists, Tim Jackson, for a stand alone interview to help demonstrate what cities can do to deliver shared prosperity - not just an unsustainable goal of infinite growth.

Featured guests:
Tim Jackson is Professor of Sustainable Development at the University of Surrey and Director of the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity - a multi-disciplinary, international research consortium that aims to explore the economic, social, and political dimensions of sustainable prosperity. He is an award-winning economist and published author of several books, including his latest: Post Growth: Life After Capitalism.

Links
Post Growth: Life After Capitalism by Tim Jackson (Polity Press, 2021)
“Prosperity Beyond Growth: An Emerging Agenda for European Cities,” by Ben Rogers et al., Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy
Prosperity without growth? The transition to a sustainable economy report by Professor Tim Jackson,Economics Commissioner, Sustainable Development Commission
Prosperity without Growth (book) by Tim Jackson
Transition Network website
Beyond GDP: A proposed new economic framework: Vancouver - C40 Knowledge Hub

Image credit: © Rosanna Wan C40

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

In this episode, we discuss what cities can do - and are already doing - to combat climate change, while also considering how cities can communicate these policies. Communication means exchanging and listening to ideas; and in the climate context, to fight back against the propaganda of the fossil fuel industry, far-right political movements and online conspiracy theorists. Mayors and governments need to think about how they communicate with their constituents about their plans for phasing out fossil fuels and the path towards a healthier climate - especially our youth leaders, who deserve a seat at the table today to help shape the world they will inherit tomorrow.

Featured guests:
Andrea Everett is the Senior Director of Survey Research and Data Science at Climate Nexus. Her interest in opinion research began in graduate school, with a desire to understand how public attitudes affect foreign policy outcomes. She holds a PhD in politics from Princeton University and a BA in political science from Stanford.

Lori Lodes has been the Executive Director of Climate Power since its inception in 2020. She is a communications specialist who has worked for prominent advocacy groups, unions, political campaigns, and corporations. Climate Power and Lori are also helping cities and mayors to seize the opportunities presented by the Act.

Alysa, Ecrin, and Zeynep are middle school students from Toronto, Canada in Miha Isik's social awareness project class. Along with their classmates, they wrote, composed, performed, and directed the music video “No Future No Children.”

Links for this episode:
“The City Research and Innovation Agenda: Prioritizing Knowledge Gaps and Policy Processes to Accelerate City Climate Action,” by Cathy Oke et al, Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy
5 myths about gas stoves, the latest culture war clash - Vox, 20 January 2023
The cost of fossil gas: The health, economic and environmental implications for cities - C40 Knowledge Hub
What is the Inflation Reduction Act? - USA Today
Climate action and the Inflation Reduction Act: A guide for local government leaders - C40 Knowledge Hub

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Striving for Climate Justice and Resilience is one of the most important goals at the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and C40 Cities. The forthcoming Volume 2.3 of the journal will be dedicated specifically to climate justice and resilience because the people and places least responsible for the problem are the ones who often bear the largest burden, and cities need to be doing their part to make resilience more equitable.

Featured guests:
Geci Karuri-Sebina is an Associate Professor at the Wits School of Governance at the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. Her main area of research and practice is urban planning and governance, and she also has experience in development foresight, policy, and innovation.

Chandni Singh is a Senior Researcher at the Indian Institute for Human Settlements (IIHS) in Bangalore and a Lead Author of the IPCC’s Assessment Report 6 in 2022 on ‘Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability.’ She works on issues of climate change adaptation, disaster risk and recovery,  and rural to urban migration within the Global South.

Karen Chapple is the Director of the School of Cities, and Professor of Geography & Planning at the University of Toronto. Her main area of focus in her studies is inequalities in the planning, development, and governance of regions in the Americas. Currently, Karen is engaged in many research projects related to inequality and sustainability planning, with a focus on residential and commercial/industrial displacement.

Links:
“Keeping 1.5°C Alive in the Global South: Life or Death”
“The Grassroots Story: Why Keeping 1.5°C is Vital from the Global South Perspective"
University of Toronto is building Canada’s largest urban geo-exchange system
Rainwater Harvesting in Mexico City as a Measure to Reduce the Impacts of Floods, Increase Water Security and Guarantee Rights to Water and Health

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

There’s a crucial link between good green jobs and public transport - in London, and around the world. This episode features a live podcast conversation that was organised by C40 Cities and the International Transport Workers Federation and recorded at London Climate Action Week in June 2023. Inspired by the mission of delivering a fair, inclusive, and just climate transition, this session titled “Investing in public transport: boosting green jobs and climate action” includes voices from London, England, as well as representatives for its transportation industry.

Featured guests:
Mikaela Loach is a youth climate justice activist and co-host of The YIKES Podcast, where they break down issues like climate impacts in an accessible, intersectional, and nuanced way to guide towards unified action. She is the bestselling author of It’s Not That Radical: Climate Action to Transform Our World.

Seb Dance is Deputy Mayor of Transport for London, delivering the Mayor’s transport strategy and ensuring 80% of all journeys in London are on foot, by cycle or by public transport by 2041. 

Livia Spera is General Secretary of the European Transport Workers Federation (ETF), which represents over 5 million transport workers in 41 countries. She was nominated as the ETF Acting General Secretary in 2019.

Paul Ainsworth has been employed as a bus driver by Go Ahead for over 20 years. He also holds a range of elected roles within Unite, one of the United Kingdom’s leading unions, and has recently been elected to the union’s national Executive Council.

Links:
European Transport Workers’ Federation
C40 Good Green Jobs Campaign
The Future Is Public Transport
Public transport Global Coalition Statement
Spotlight On: Green Jobs and a Just Transition
How cities can make public transport inclusive, equitable and accessible for everyone
How to make public transport an attractive option in your city
Good green jobs: How to ensure an equitable, just transition for workers
Bogotá's 'La Rolita' project | Training

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

As we aim toward a 1.5 degree future, we need to fundamentally shift the way we lead our cities. One substantial change is that cities need to look to a new form of governance - one that places climate action at its heart. A critical tool for cities is a climate budget: a governance system that offers a way for cities to turn climate commitments into funded and measurable actions across their government. C40 recently worked with a group of international cities to adapt climate budgeting to their own unique urban and social contexts, and this in turn will support other cities who can more easily adopt the policy now that they can learn from these proven examples.

Featured guests:
Catrin Robertsen is Head of Climate Budgeting at C40, a new programme supporting cities to improve their governance systems to operationalize and deliver climate targets. Before joining C40, Catrin worked for the Climate Agency for the City of Oslo as the lead technical advisor on Oslo’s climate budget. Prior experiences include national emissions inventories and impact assessments at the Norwegian Environment Agency. Catrin holds a Bachelor’s degree in Economics from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and a Master’s degree in Economics, specializing in development and natural resource economics, from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

Trond Vedeld currently works at the Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research (NIBR) at Oslo Metropolitan University as a research professor in urban and international studies. Trond does research in Political Economy, Public Administration and Urban Politics, Climate Governance, and Climate services and has published extensively on issues of political economy, public administration and urban politics, climate governance, and collaborative governance/co-creation in European and African cities.

Links for this episode:
C40 Knowledge Hub's Landing Page for all things climate-budget related
“Why New York and London are betting on climate budgets” by C40 Chair, Mayor Sadiq Khan of London and Mayor Eric Adams of New York City
Norwegian Institute for Urban and Regional Research
"How to lead collaborative governance for climate transformation: A guide for city leaders and decision makers", by Hege Hofstad and Trond Vedeld, Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy
"Oslo is Demonstrating Ambitious Leadership through its Climate Budget" by Governing Mayor Raymond Johansen, Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy

Image credit: © Rosanna Wan - C40

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

According to the UN, cities generate up to 75 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions - so we know that cities are the key to unlocking many of our much-needed climate solutions. While larger cities with greater population densities have bigger ecological footprints, emissions are being generated by all cities from around the world; small but mighty cities have a critical role to play too. We all share the same coastlines, and we all breathe the same air - and it might be time to look to smaller cities who are leading the way on climate change to see what else we can be doing. 

Featured guests:

Mayor Melissa Blaustein was elected to the city council of Sausalito in 2020, and has been Mayor since 2023. Since becoming Mayor, she has pushed for Sausalito’s own climate action plan - which is vitally important for cities of any size, especially when you’re as close to the ocean as Sausalito. From addressing sea level rise, to electrifying the city’s transportation operations, Sausalito is proving beyond a doubt that they can keep up with their C40 neighbour, San Francisco.

Mayor Michael Cahill was elected as the 34th mayor of the City of Beverly, Massachusetts in 2013. Beverly might be a smaller, quieter suburb to the C40 city of Boston, but the city is driving some big sustainable ideas: from harnessing solar and geothermal technology, to petitioning the state to support much-needed green infrastructure, they’re another shining example of a small but mighty C40 neighbour who is leading the way on city climate action. 

Links for this episode:

Better together: How cities can collaborate for faster, more effective climate action

Sausalito Low Emissions Action Plan

Redlining’s Legacy Of Inequality: Low Homeownership Rates, Less Equity For Black Households

Fossil gas research

Solar power in Beverly

Solved by David Miller

Climate Mayors Network

Image credit: © Lizzie Lomax - C40

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Cities 1.5 is returning for Season 2 — and we’re STILL dedicated to maintaining rising global temperatures to a maximum of 1.5º Celsius.

Starting September 12th 2023, join host David Miller each Tuesday as he speaks to even more mayors, youth leaders, researchers, and urban climate defenders who are working toward transformative solutions to today’s most pressing climate challenges. We’ll be exploring topics like climate budgeting, innovations that are saving cities, case studies, the latest climate report findings, and more. The fight toward a resilient world is closer than you think — subscribe to Cities 1.5 so you don’t miss a single episode. And if you can’t wait until September, check out Season 1 of Cities 1.5 wherever you get your podcasts.

Cities 1.5 is hosted by David Miller, Managing Director of the C40 Center for City Climate Policy and Economy, and is produced by the University of Toronto Press. Cities 1.5 supports the mission of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy.

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Cities 1.5 is returning for a second season — and we’re STILL dedicated to maintaining rising global temperatures to a maximum of 1.5º Celsius.

Starting September 2023, join host David Miller each Tuesday as he speaks to even more mayors, youth leaders, researchers, and urban climate defenders who are working toward transformative solutions to today’s most pressing climate challenges. The fight toward a resilient world is closer than you think — subscribe to Cities 1.5 so you don’t miss a single episode. And if you can’t wait until September, check out Season 1 of Cities 1.5 wherever you get your podcasts.

Cities 1.5 is hosted by David Miller, Managing Director of the C40 Center for City Climate Policy and Economy, and produced by the University of Toronto Press. Cities 1.5 supports the mission of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy.

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Global youth activists have emerged as the most inspiring voices in the climate movement. They have organized and campaigned to demand concrete and ambitious action from world leaders, and they have successfully put the climate emergency at the center of the global political agenda. Youth activists are rightfully challenging the status quo: showing us exactly how ineffective our current actions are and offering us solutions on what needs to be done today to ensure a climate-safe future…because it’s the only option left.

Featured guests:
Pamela Escobar-Vargas is an activist, speaker, and an environmental researcher. She graduated with a degree in international relations from the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM) and has been an Adjunct Professor of Public International Law, Foreign Policy of Mexico II, and Constitutional law. Pamela has participated in forums such as COP26 and the Pre-Summit on Food Systems. She is currently a youth delegate for the C40 Global Youth and Mayors Forum. You can read Pamela’s article, “Keeping 1.5°C Alive in the Global South: Life or Death” in the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, volume 1, issue 1.

Betty Osei Bonsu is a circular economy enthusiast from Ghana currently pursuing her Masters degree at the United Nations University in Germany. She serves as the Uganda Country Manager for the Green Africa Youth Organization, implementing sustainable community projects while enhancing youth climate activism. She hosts the YouTube show B. Inspired with Stories from Africa, a storytelling platform focused on community values. She is a member of the C40 Global Youth and Mayors Forum. You can read Betty’s article, “The Grassroots Story: Why Keeping 1.5°C is Vital from the Global South Perspective” in the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, volume 1, issue 1.

Juliet Oluoch is an environmental conservationist and climate activist from Nairobi, Kenya. Growing up, Juliet saw the devastating impacts of flooding in the neighbouring community of Kisumu County, and was inspired to pursue a degree in Environmental Conservation and Natural Resource Management to find answers to pressing climate issues. Juliet has also been involved with the African Youths Initiative on Climate Change, first as a Communications Coordinator and now as the Deputy National Coordinator. She supports her activism with academic research, with a special focus on sustainable cities.

Esther Yealie Kamara is a gender equality and climate advocate born and raised in Freetown, Sierra Leone. Esther is a student at Sierra Leone Fourah Bay College studying Gender and Development Studies. She is involved with organizations such as Women Deliver, and supports food security initiatives like urban farming and seed banks in Freetown. She graduated from Hilance Inte

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

As the impacts of climate breakdown intensify, the cost of living crisis takes hold globally, and levels of inequality remain stubbornly high, it begs the question: is our economic system working to meet the needs of people and the planet? The climate science is unequivocal and clear - the 1.5 degree threshold is swiftly approaching, and we can no longer rely on conventional economic models that do not recognize the ecological limits of the planet. Cities around the world are leading the way in establishing innovative wellbeing models, to creating thriving, just and resilient urban environments. This episode unpacks why our current models aren’t working and how purposeful government led action at the city level can support shared prosperity.

Featured in this episode:
“Global wellbeing is at risk – and it’s in large part because we haven’t kept our promises on the environment” UN Secretary-General António Guterres: https://news.un.org/en/story/2022/06/1119532

Featured guests:
Katherine Trebeck is a political economist, writer, and advocate for economic system change. She co-founded the Wellbeing Economy Alliance and also WEAll Scotland, its Scottish hub. She is writer-in-residence at the University of Edinburgh’s Edinburgh Futures Institute and a strategic advisor to Australia’s Centre for Policy Development. She sits on a range of boards and advisory groups such as The Democracy Collaborative, the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy, and the Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity.

Saiorse Exton is an activist for climate and equality, based in Ireland. She founded her local branch of the 'Fridays for Future' movement and organizes nationally and internationally. For her Rise project, Saoirse rewrote Irish mythology from a feminist perspective – foregrounding the strong characters that traditional narratives tended to suppress. She ended her second term as Equality officer of the Irish Second-Level Students' Union in 2022, where she developed a passion for legislative and student-led activism.  She is a member of the C40 Cities Global Youth and Mayors Forum, working with Mayors from around the world to implement change in sustainability policy.

Image credit: Equity © Erick M Ramos & C40

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

As vulnerable and marginalized communities bear the brunt of the impacts from climate change, ensuring they have an active role in climate solutions is critical. Mayors and cities are uniquely positioned to ensure marginalized groups are included in the solution. By taking an inclusive and equitable approach to climate action, cities can build trust with communities and in turn develop stronger, more effective climate policies. In addition to climate action led by cities, there are wider economic and systemic challenges that are driving inequality in cities. We will hear from a panel of experts on why approaching housing as a human right and climate action through a lens of equity can lead to better environmental, social and economic outcomes.

Featured in this episode: 

C40 Climate Action Planning Guide: https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/guide-navigation?language=en_US&guideRecordId=a3t1Q0000007lEWQAY&guideArticleRecordId=a3s1Q000001iahcQAA

The Shift’s website: https://make-the-shift.org/

Featured guests:
Jazmin Burgess is Deputy Director of the Inclusive Climate Action programme at C40 Cities and leads the Global Green New Deal work, which provides in-depth programme assistance and policy guidance to cities to deliver inclusive climate action and a just transition at the local level. Prior to C40, Jazmin worked for the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, leading the team responsible for the mayor’s Green New Deal for London and as Senior Adviser to the deputy mayor for Environment and Energy.

Pedro Rodrigo Rolim is the Manager of Sustainability and Resilience of the City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. An Architect and Urbanist, Pedro has developed numerous urbanization works in Rio de Janeiro, Bahia and Paraíba (Brazil). At the Municipal Secretariat of Urbanism (2008-2018), he worked on the review of the City Master Plan, the Rio 2016 Urban and Environmental Legacy Plan and was Head of Social Interest Programs, working with social and urbanistic orientations in favelas and informal communities.

Leilani Farha is the Global Director at The Shift, an organization committed to changing the narrative around housing rights and realizing housing as a human right across the globe. Previously, she served as the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Adequate Housing. Leilani has presented reports to the UN on the treatment of housing as a commodity and its consequences for poor and middle-class people, as well as issued reports to guide States and other actors in meeting their commitments under the Sustainable Development Goals.

Image credit: ©C40

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

The dirty truth about “natural” gas is that there’s nothing clean or green about it - in fact, it's as dirty as coal. From a carbon emissions perspective, the continued use of fossil gas is incompatible with the 1.5 degree goal of the Paris Agreement, and it must be rapidly phased out. The global energy crisis we're currently facing has shone a light on our over reliance on fossil gas and the social and economic costs it imposes on society. Cities have a big role to play in the energy transition because they can influence the shift from fossil fuels to clean energy - but also because they directly benefit from the health, social, and economic outcomes the transition will deliver.

Featured in this episode:
C40 Knowledge Hub: https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/

C40’s The Cost of Fossil Gas: The Health, Economic, and Environmental Implications for Cities report: https://c40.my.salesforce.com/sfc/p/#36000001Enhz/a/1Q000000ggOS/lFT5Gq0MZg95h1T6XPMFFSOVQ5FjGjByWuUt0IIgxvI

The International Energy Agency’s 10 Point Plan to Reduce European Union’s Alliance on Russian Natural Gas: https://www.iea.org/reports/a-10-point-plan-to-reduce-the-european-unions-reliance-on-russian-natural-gas

Featured guests:
Rachel Huxley is the Deputy editor of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and is Director of Knowledge and Learning, C40 Cities. She is responsible for C40’s knowledge management and research strategy. Her research looks at the processes and practices of transition and decision making. As part of her work on sustainable cities Rachel established and led the Sustainable Cities Network, an informal network of leading UK cities to enable sharing of best practice and challenges.

Brian Motherway is the Head of the Energy Efficiency Division at the International Energy Agency and oversees a range of analytical and outreach programmes supporting energy efficiency globally. Prior to joining the IEA Brian was Chief Executive of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland.

Image credit: ©C40

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

In the global transition away from fossil fuels to a world fueled by renewable energy, new green industries and job opportunities are emerging. As new jobs in sustainable sectors continue to grow, employment opportunities linked to fossil fuels will diminish – which is why the energy transition must have equity at its core. A just transition is a vision for a greener, healthier, and more prosperous future for everyone, where no one is left behind. In this episode, host David Miller speaks to three guests: Jim Stanford is a Canadian labor economist who has been a leading voice in making fair and green jobs work over the last 20 years; Mayor Kate Gallego of Phoenix, Arizona, is leading her city to meet its goal to become the most sustainable desert city in the United States; and Is’haaq Akoon is a city leader from Ekurhuleni, South Africa, who is leading on a City Just Transition Commission to address these issues at an urban level.

Featured in this episode: A Just Transition: How to Make Action on Climate Change Fair and Inclusive in conversation with then International Trade Union Confederation General Secretary, Sharan Burrow, https://www.adb.org/news/videos/just-transition-how-make-action-climate-change-fair-and-inclusive-adb-insight-full

Featured guests:
Jim Stanford is a Canadian economist and Director of the Centre for Future Work. Jim is the Harold Innis Industry Professor in Economics at McMaster University in Hamilton, Canada, and an Honorary Professor in the Department of Political Economy at the University of Sydney. Jim has written, edited or co-edited seven books, and dozens of articles and reports in both peer-reviewed and popular outlets. Jim’s article, “Cities can lead the energy employment transition… but they must plan for it”, has been published as an advance access article online and will be featured in the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy volume 2, issue 1 in 2023.

Mayor Kate Gallego is the second elected female mayor in Phoenix’s history, and the youngest big city mayor in the United States. She graduated from Harvard University and earned an MBA from the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania. Mayor Gallego has focused on three key policy areas during her time in office: diversifying the economy, strengthening infrastructure investment, and working to make Phoenix a leader in sustainability. Mayor Gallego is passionate about building a Phoenix that works for everyone and increasing the quality of life for all residents.

Is’haaq Akoon has been a dedicated employee of the City of Ekurhuleni since 2008. He currently holds the office of Senior Manager Climate Change and currently heads the City of Ekurhuleni - Resilience Forum, where all projects and programmes are discussed to ensure t

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

1.5 degrees Celsius is a vitally important figure. In the 2015 Paris Agreement, global leaders set a target to limit global warming and hold the overall global  average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. Ever since, city leaders in the C40 network have helped the world recognize that this target is not only essential, but possible—as long as we act quickly. C40 cities are demonstrating what ambitious action looks like and what a future looks like where everyone can thrive. In this episode, we will hear about the latest climate science, the most ambitious city-led climate action, and one of the youth voices demanding we move climate action forward now.

Featured in this episode:  COP27 World Leaders Summit Opening Speech by Mia Mottley, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J0egwAfO0w

Featured guests:
Sir David King is the founder and chair of the Climate Crisis Advisory Group and is chair of the Centre for Climate Repair at Cambridge University. He previously held the position of permanent Special Representative for Climate Change from September 2013 until March 2017. He was the UK Government's Chief Scientific Advisor from 2000 to 2007, during which time he was instrumental in creating the Energy Technologies Institute. Sir David has published over 500 papers on science and policy, for which he has received numerous awards. He holds 22 honorary degrees from universities around the world. Sir David was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1991, a Foreign Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002 and was knighted in 2003.

Governing Mayor Raymond Johansen was elected to the City Council of Oslo in 2015. He was Secretary General in the Labour Party from 2009 to 2015 and served twice as State Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He also served as Vice Mayor of Transport and Environment in the City of Oslo from 1991–1995. Mayor Johansen has extensive international experience, and has been Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Head of department in the Norwegian agency for International Development and Chargé d’Affaires at the Norwegian Embassy in Eritrea. Governing Mayor Johansen’s article, “Oslo is Demonstrating Ambitious Leadership through its Climate Budget,” was published in the first issue of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and can be read online.

Zainab Waheed is a youth climate activist from Pakistan. She is currently doing her AS Levels from the Lahore Grammar School Islamabad and has been representing Pakistan internationally at COP26 and COP27. Zainab believes that climate change is a social injustice issue, which requires each one of us to demand climate justice, finance, and accountability. Zainab’s article, “Accountability is Imperative to Keeping the Vision of 1.5°C Alive

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

Welcome to the Cities 1.5 podcast — a show dedicated to maintaining rising global temperatures to a maximum of 1.5º Celsius.

Each Tuesday, join host David Miller as he speaks with the mayors, youth leaders, researchers, and urban climate defenders who are working toward transformative solutions to today’s most pressing climate challenges. Global cities are helping to shape a more resilient and economically stable world through action, climate policies, and research.  The fight toward a resilient planet is closer than you think — our first episode debuts January 24th, 2023 so, subscribe to this podcast today so you don’t miss a single episode.

Cities 1.5 is hosted by David Miller, Managing Director of the C40 Center for City Climate Policy and Economy, and produced by the University of Toronto Press. Cities 1.5 supports the mission of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy.

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and Cities 1.5 is supported by C40 Cities and the C40 Centre for City Climate Policy and Economy. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Our executive producers are Calli Elipoulos and Peggy Whitfield.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/