The co-benefits of climate action

Accelerating city-level ambition

Cities are at the forefront of the climate emergency. Home to over half the world’s population and accounting for up to 70% of global emissions, cities have a vital role to play in the transition to a resilient and low carbon future. By taking actions to cut emissions and reduce vulnerabilities, cities and their citizens can gain multiple co-benefits from climate action.

Our new report, produced in partnership with the Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research and the Centre for Climate Change and Social Transformations, looks at the additional benefits that climate action delivers, and how cities can utilise these in their decision-making processes.

Climate policies that promote co-benefits (that tackle climate change whilst also delivering on other priorities) can bolster support from local stakeholders, increasing the likelihood that they will be approved by decision makers.

Co-benefits include cleaner air, the creation of green jobs, improved public health from active travel, and can support biodiversity due to the expansion of green space.

In 2019, 861 cities disclosed their climate and environmental data through the CDP-ICLEI Unified Reporting System . 521 (61%) of these cities reported taking actions to mitigate climate change, representing 73 countries and an estimated population of 500 million people, or roughly 8% of the global population.

Our analysis shows that:

• Cities citing the co-benefits of their climate action reported 2.5 times more climate actions than cities that did not.
• The top co-benefits of mitigation action reported by cities were shifts to more sustainable behaviour (39%) and improved resource efficiency (33%)
• Almost a quarter of cities did not report co-benefits of their climate action which may mean they are missing out on opportunities to address other city priorities, such as health, social inclusion and economic inequality challenges

Using this data, our new report offers a state of play of how cities around the world are embedding co-benefits into their climate action planning, and points to tools and resources for other cities looking to follow their lead.

How are cities embedding co-benefits into their climate action planning? Read the stories below to learn more.