A List: UK cities see largest year-on-year growth in global climate action ranking

Fresh from the news that Greater Manchester has been named one of four European Resilience Hubs in recognition of its work towards climate and disaster risk reduction, there’s more good climate action news for both it, and other UK cities.

The annual A List city ranking from CDP – a not-for-profit charity that runs the global disclosure system for investors, companies, cities, states and regions to manage their environmental impacts – which tracks global climate action, has revealed that the number of UK cities has nearly trebled year-on-year.

The number of UK cities has risen from four cities in 2020 to 11 cities this year; up 175 per cent. Seven new cities have been added to the A List – Edinburgh, Leicester, Manchester, Nottingham, Reading, Southend-on-Sea and Sunderland.

They join the following UK cities on the list: Greater London Authority, Greater Manchester, Newcastle City Council and Bristol City Council.

To score an A, cities had to meet a range of climate action criteria. This includes a city-wide emissions inventory which is publicly disclosed as well as have set an ambitious emissions reduction target, created a future renewable energy target and published a climate action plan. This is in addition to carrying out a climate risk and vulnerability assessment and putting a climate adaptation plan in place to address climate hazards that idenitified from it.

CDP global director of Cities, States and Regions Kyra Appleby said:

“The A List also shows the value of reporting environmental data - what gets measured gets managed - and there is clear momentum building here with over 1,000 cities reporting in 2021. As COP26 has made crystal clear though, there needs to be a paradigm shift in action to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

“We hope the example of A List cities’ efforts and actions will encourage far greater numbers of cities to ramp up their climate ambition, and work together with government and business, to safeguard our planet for generations to come.”

A total of 95 cities from around the globe made CDP’s 2021 Cities A List. These include Los Angeles, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, Tokyo and Sydney.