by Brianna Crandall — December 25, 2015—The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) recently announced the winners of the third annual C40 Cities Awards, recognizing 10 global cities for their leadership by example in tackling climate change across key sectors. The Awards ceremony was held in Paris during the COP21 climate negotiations.
According to C40, winning cities each demonstrated exceptional innovation and ambition to build low-carbon and climate-resilient urban communities. Winners were recognized for a diverse set of world-class policies, projects or programs, including Vancouver’s Greenest City Action Plan, which sets a roadmap for it to become the greenest city in the world by 2020, and Wuhan’s ecological restoration of one of the city’s largest landfill sites.
This year’s winners in the 10 award categories are:
- Boston (Smart Cities & Smart Community Engagement)
- Cape Town (Adaptation Implementation)
- Johannesburg (Finance & Economic Development)
- Nanjing (Transportation)
- New York (Building Energy Efficiency)
- Rotterdam (Adaptation Planning & Assessment)
- Stockholm (Sustainable Communities)
- Vancouver (Carbon Measurement & Planning)
- Washington, DC (Green Energy)
- Wuhan (Solid Waste)
C40 received more than 200 applications from 94 cities for the 2015 Awards; these were reviewed in partnership with sustainability think tank and consultancy Sustainia, with 33 finalists announced in October. Of the 10 awards categories, four are open to C40 Cities and those that are part of the Compact of Mayors, a global coalition of mayors and city officials committed to reduce local greenhouse gas emissions, enhance resilience to climate change, and track their progress transparently.
C40 Cities Awards winners represent leading projects in urban sustainability, but city climate action is accelerating around the world – according to recent C40 research, C40 cities have taken 10,000 city climate actions since the last major COP in Copenhagen.
The 3rd Annual C40 Cities Awards was made possible thanks to support from Bloomberg Philanthropies and global electric vehicle provider BYD Company Ltd. For more information on the Awards and the projects of the winning cities, visit the 2015 Web site.
