CITY-BUSINESS CLIMATE ALLIANCES A step-by-step guide for developing successful collaborations CDP City-Business Climate Alliances In proud partnership with City-Business Climate Alliances 1 2 Important notice With contributions from: This report may be used by anyone providing acknowledgment is given to CDP. This Kyra Appleby, Global Director, Cities, States and Regions, CDP does not represent a license to repackage or resell any of its contents without the Simeran Bachra, UK Cities Manager, CDP express permission from CDP. Andreia Banhe, Latin America Regional Manager, CDP Pandora Batra, Senior Engagement Officer, CDP No representation or warranty (express or implied) is given by CDP as to the accuracy Jazmin Burgess, Principal Policy and Programmes Officer at the or completeness of the information and opinions contained in this report. You should Greater London Authority not act upon the information contained in this publication without obtaining specific Rachel Cary, Policy and Programmes Manager - Zero Carbon at the professional advice. To the extent permitted by law, CDP does not accept or assume Greater London Authority any liability, responsibility or duty of care in reliance on the information contained in Susan Clandillon, Communications Manager for Cities, States and Regions, CDP this report. Robert Schupp, Vision Flourish Andrea Fernández, Director of Governance & Global Partnerships at C40 All information and views expressed herein by CDP are based on their judgment at the Delphine Garin, Manager, Sustainable Cities at WBCSD time of this report and are subject to change without notice. Ryan Green, Senior Project Officer, CDP Emily Hickson, Cause Strategist, Net-Zero by 2050, the B Team ‘CDP’ refers to CDP North America, Inc, a not-for-profit organization with 501(c)3 chari- Roland Hunziker, Director, Sustainable Buildings & Cities at WBCSD table status in the US and CDP Worldwide, a registered charity number 1122330 and a Brian Kilkelly, Development Lead, Climate-KIC company limited by guarantee, registered in England number 05013650. Amy Kao, Program Officer, North America, CDP Heather McGeory, Managing Director at We Mean Business © 2019 CDP. All rights reserved. Hanah Paik, Asia Pacific Regional Manager, CDP Shirin Reuvers, Associate Director, Cities, States and Regions, CDP Lead authors Sarah Savage, Senior Communications Manager, CDP Roya Kazemi, President, Vision Flourish (roya@visionflourish.com) Jonathan Walter, Director of Business and Innovation at C40 Cécile Faraud, former CDP London Initiative Manager. Current Clean Construction Rebecca Wyn, Communications Consultant, Di:ga Communications Programme Manager at C40 Cities. With special thanks to city staff in: Designed by Vision Flourish (visionflourish.com) City of Boston, United States Coventry City Council, United Kingdom Greater London Authority, United Kingdom City of Helsinki, Finland City of Paris, France Iskandar Regional Development Authority, Malaysia Mexico City, Mexico Washington, DC, United States For referencing, please use: CDP, City-Business Climate Alliances: A Step-by-Step Guide for Developing Successful Collaborations, London, 2019. CDP Worldwide, Level 4 60 Great Tower Street, London, EC3R 5AD. Tel: +44 (0) 20 3818 3900 cities@cdp.net www.cdp.net © CDP 2019 This report is available for download from www.cdp.net City-Business Climate Alliances 3 CONTENTS 06 Foreword 08 Executive Summary 10 Climate Change, Cities and The Private Sector 15 How to Set Up a City-Business Climate Alliance in Your City? A Step-By-Step Guide 17 Phase 1: Assess your climate goals and identify partnership opportunities 20 Case Study: Boston’s Green Ribbon Commission 22 Phase 2: Engage potential partners 24 Case Study: the London Business Climate Leaders initiative 26 Phase 3: Form your alliance 30 Case Study: Paris Climate Action 32 Case Study: the London Business Climate Leaders initiative 35 Phase 4: Create and activate plan 38 Case study: Smart & Clean Helsinki 40 Conclusion & useful reports and guidance City-Business Climate Alliances 4 5 FOREWORD PAUL SIMPSON CEO, CDP Every day, we are reminded about the alarming effects of a changing climate. From the increasing frequency and severity of extreme weather to biodiversity loss, these stories reflect what the science has been telling us for decades: climate change is affecting us all. From cities across the world declaring climate emergencies to 16-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg taking her message of youth action to the world’s leaders, people are stepping up in response and the tide is turning. Many nations, cities, companies and citizens are acting. CDP recognizes that cities and businesses are at the forefront of delivering meaningful and scalable actions to address climate change. Many are now beginning to align their targets to the latest IPCC science on 1.5°C, aiming to reach net zero carbon by mid-century. However, they are also reaching the limit of what they can achieve on their own and are increasingly turning to each other for support. In 2018 an alliance of partners, under CDP leadership, began designing the blueprint for its first City-Business Climate Alliance, aimed at uniting the ambitions and efforts of city and business leaders. With C40, The B Team and the support of We Mean Business, we convened a group of leading London businesses to work with the Mayor of London. Together, they are driving their ambitious climate action even further. CDP is uniquely placed to bring together cities and companies acting on climate. Companies, their supply chains, cities, states and regions all report their environmental data through CDP’s platform and in doing so, commit to managing and measuring their environmental impact. Our data is used daily by investors, business leaders, procurement teams and national and subnational governments to inform decision-making, policy and action. This guide comes as a growing number of cities and businesses voice their interest in developing City-Business Climate Alliances of their own. We are thrilled to combine our experiences with the latest research from C40 and WBCSD on city-business models to support meaningful and efficient local combined actions. The time for strong environmental action is now. With strong and collaborative efforts from cities and businesses, we can and must innovate, collaborate, invest and deliver to prevent catastrophic climate change and protect people and planet. MARK WATTS Executive Director, C40 Cities To stand a good chance of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C, we must reduce global CO2 emissions to zero within the next two decades. The gravity of the situation cannot be underestimated; each year we fail to get started on these emissions reductions, the window to reach zero emissions on a 1.5°C pathway is reduced by two years. At the same time, we must rapidly invest in helping our citizens, businesses and infrastructure to thrive in a changing climate. C40’s mission is to support cities on a pathway in line with what the science says must happen. To achieve this ambitious feat and accelerate climate action here and now, our cities want and need to engage with many different actors, including those from the private sector. Systemic transformations in the way cities collaborate with businesses are already driving huge changes in our approach to climate action and catalyzing more and more climate mitigation and adaptation projects. By helping our member cities engage with businesses City-Business Climate Alliances 6 earlier and with more open collaboration, we can support them in setting joint aspirational goals, and provide a space for catalyzing climate projects. Our cities are looking to bridge the gap between their individual climate action plans and implementing the projects which come from these. Collaborative models which enable the early engagement of cities and businesses will drive forward tangible local climate action informed by these climate action plans. This earlier engagement will help build a shared understanding of the challenges cities face and will develop support for complex climate projects. The activities delivered by City-Business Climate Alliances will play a key role in reducing emissions in our cities, and there is much potential to explore by sharing this knowledge across our global network. HALLA TÓMASDÓTTIR CEO, The B Team Exceptional times call for radical collaboration. We are facing a climate crisis that cannot be ignored by any sector of society. Everyone has a part to play — and we cannot leave anyone behind. Collaboration between businesses and cities, where we see a majority of the world’s emissions generated, is fundamental to crafting the unparalleled economic transformation needed for a net-zero future. Initiatives like this also send a clear message to governments: we are moving in the right direction and, with your support, we can reach this audacious goal. We have no more time to waste, only opportunities to do what’s right for our planet, all the world’s people and the generations to come. MARIA MENDILUCE Managing Director, Cities and Mobility and Senior Management Team at World Business Council for Sustainable Development WBCSD has been working closely with cities over the past 10 years, and we are happy to contribute our experience and share good practices in this analysis, which has been jointly developed with C40 from over 30 City-Business partnerships. We know that it is in cities that the battle to fight climate change and meet the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is going to happen. To win this battle we must massively transform the systems that help us in the way we produce energy, the way we move, the way we eat and the way we live. Now more than ever, both business and cities recognize that this transformation requires concerted, collaborative efforts between companies and city governments. This is where the City-Business Climate Alliance starts. The City- Business Climate Alliance offers a platform for dialogue at both a strategic level — to develop a shared vision — and at an operational level, where city depart- ments and business work together to deploy the best solutions. NIGEL TOPPING CEO, We Mean Business Business is taking action on climate at an unprecedented level and stands ready to work with policymakers to help drive the systemic transformation of our global economy. For companies to go even further and faster in their transition to zero-carbon, they need strong policy signals from government at all levels to give them the clarity and confidence to make long-term investments. The London Business Climate Leaders project demonstrates that when business and policymakers collaborate, we see an acceleration in the pace and scale of action and innovation on climate. I hope city leaders around the world will take inspiration to reach out to businesses and work together to build the thriving and resilient cities we need. City-Business Climate Alliances 7 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This publication is designed for city governments who recognize that by working together with their local business community, they are better prepared to address the challenges of climate change. The science is telling us we have to act urgently to significantly reduce emissions to 45% by 2030 and achieve net zero by 2050 if we are to successfully adapt to climate change.1 In response, cities are stepping up their action; declaring climate emergencies and reinforcing these with net zero carbon commitments. But cities cannot achieve the emissions reductions alone, with some cities controlling just 4% of their cities’ carbon emissions. City-Business Climate Alliances have huge potential to reduce emissions on a greater scale than the city could manage alone. Cities and companies have often worked together to improve services and develop infrastructure. The traditional model of public private partnership is indeed nothing new. However, these partnerships often involved the private sector stepping in to provide capital for a city project with a funding shortfall. City-Business Climate Alliances differ because the city is working with multiple businesses to co-create solutions to drive down emissions or fund adaptation initiatives in the city. Involving actors from civil society, non-governmental organizations and academic institutions ensures oversight, guidance and expertise are brought to the table at an early stage – with each actor bringing unique insights. Presented in this guide are examples from public-private alliances in Boston (p 20), Helsinki (p 36), London (p 24 and p 30) and Paris (p 29) alongside a step-by-step guide for cities big and small to replicate the City-Business Climate Alliance model. Designed to be a blueprint for city officials, planners and project managers with the concrete steps needed to form a City-Business Climate Alliance, the guide takes the reader through four distinct phases: Phase 1: Assess your climate goals and identify partnership opportunities (p 17) Phase 2: Engage potential partners (p 22) Phase 3: Form your alliance (p 26) Phase 4: Create and activate your alliance’s plan (p 35) By using this guide and building strong partnerships through a City-Business Climate Alliance, cities will have a better understanding of their climate-related goals that need private sector collaboration, which to prioritize and which partners are best placed to help them achieve these. Cities will also be equipped with the knowledge to create partnerships that are well-governed, financially viable and which facilitate further and faster action on climate change. 1 See 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospect produced by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs; The World Bank, April 2019; and, Deadline 2020 – How Cities Will Meet the Paris Agreement produced by C40. City-Business Climate Alliances 8 9 CLIMATE CHANGE, CITIES AND THE PRIVATE SECTOR City-Business Climate Alliances 10 2% While cities occupy only of the world’s land mass, they are home to 55% of the world’s population (this figure set to rise to 70% by 2050)2 City-Business Climate Alliances 11 A NEED FOR PARTNERSHIPS We know that cities can play a critical role in tackling climate change. While cities occupy only two percent of the world’s land mass, they are home to 55% of the world’s population (with this figure set to rise to 70% by 2050). Cities also consume about two-thirds of the world’s energy.2 Cities account for approximately Cities alone can achieve 70% of global CO2 emissions2 40% of the mitigation goals outlined in the Paris Agreement2 In response, many cities have developed bold, long-term strategies to address our climate challenge. But this cannot be done in isolation and requires cooperation with other actors. Cities can reach their climate goals faster if they enlist the help of the private sector. For example, a city cannot simply retrofit its building stock without addressing the commercial and private sector; or, a city’s transition of its vehicle fleet to electric will have a limited effect without corporate fleets also making the shift. In addition, environmentally ambitious companies will have learnings to share with cities. Dialogue with the private sector can provide cities with powerful insights that can help to inform and strengthen climate actions a city may be planning. It may also be a vehicle for joint advocacy and campaigns to address systemic barriers that may limit cities and businesses from accelerating climate action. Developing a City-Business Climate Alliance in your city means that it can pave the way for greater corporate action on environment – through annual disclosure and monitoring. Later stages of the City-Business Climate Alliance can also include supply chain businesses. City-Business Climate Alliances can help: Your city advance climate action and more readily improve the lives of your residents Engage the capacity, experience and innovation of the local business community Unlock funding sources to implement critical projects Align priorities within the city, or between the city and businesses, and work together efficiently Encourage collaboration both across cities and within city departments 2 See 2018 Revision of World Urbanization Prospect produced by the Population Division of the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs; The World Bank, April 2019; and, Deadline 2020 – How Cities Will Meet the Paris Agreement produced by C40. City-Business Climate Alliances 12 WHAT IS A CITY-BUSINESS CLIMATE ALLIANCE? A City-Business Climate Alliance is a strategic local collaboration between the city government and the private sector to achieve a city’s climate goals, including meaningful reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, designing and implementing adaptation measures and building resilient systems within our cities to respond to climate change. A City-Business Climate Alliance maximizes the assets of each actor to achieve a greater environmental impact than could be achieved by the independent efforts of each. The core of the Alliance’s partnership is between cities and the private sector. However, the Alliance should allow and encourage the participation of other key stakeholders – such as civil society organizations and academia who provide climate-focused knowledge and expertise. Given the many different urban-and business-related contexts in which cities and the private sector operate, there is no single, ‘one size fits all’ model to building a City-Business Climate Alliance. These Alliances must, however, all share in common a mission to create resilient, healthy and prosperous places to live and work. Mission of City-Business Climate Alliances: To contribute to the Paris Agreement’s commitment to limit the increase in global average temperature to 1.5°C To deliver on common ambitious emissions targets in line with city climate goals To adapt to climate change by adjusting to, and reducing the risk of, changes to the climate To build the resilience of a city to the physical hazards of climate change To improve the quality of life for all city populations To support the local economy City-Business Climate Alliances 13 A City-Business Climate Alliance is a place-based model which: 1 Focuses on the primary goals of accelerating actions to reduce climate changing emissions, strengthen adaptation measures and enhance resilience 2 Enables engagement between cities and the private sector as well as other stakeholders to build partnerships for climate action 3 Establishes credible partnerships that inspire trust and create positive environmental and social impacts 4 Aligns and accelerates progress with mutually designated and agreed climate strategies and targets 5 Creates a space for dialogue, building shared understanding and support for complex projects 6 Ensures an open and transparent process and proactive communication 7 Stimulates, develops and delivers projects which implement cities’ Climate Action Plans City-Business Climate Alliances 14 Step-by-step guide HOW TO SET UP A CITY-BUSINESS CLIMATE ALLIANCE IN YOUR CITY City-Business Climate Alliances 15 In every case, embarking on a long journey with other stakeholders requires preparation and planning. This section outlines the four phases needed to ensure a successful outcome. The below framework can be followed closely or approached with a level of flexibility depending on your urban context. Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Assess your climate goals Engage potential partners Form your alliance Create and activate your and identify partnership alliance’s plan opportunities City-Business Climate Alliances 16 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Assess your climate goals Engage potential partners Form your alliance Create and activate your and identify partnership alliance’s plan opportunities PHASE 1 To get started you will need to have a clear understanding of your city’s sustainability and climate goals. Review your city’s climate goals First, your city will need to look over your climate change or sustainability strategy, focusing on achievements to date, current plans and goals. This can be easily done through your annual disclosure through CDP and ICLEI’s unified reporting system in addition to publishing or reviewing your climate action plan. You should be asking yourself difficult questions on the adequacy of your climate goals, timelines and level of ambition and, if and how they can be better pursued as part of a City-Business Climate Alliance. Answering the questionnaire will encourage you to consider: Does my city have an official position on climate change or sustainability? Have we adopted any mitigation, adaptation or resilience strategies? What are our specific plans to reduce energy consumption, switch to clean energy, and reduce emissions from the transportation sector? Are our plans consistent with the goals set out in the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting the increase in global average temperature to 1.5°C? (Review the IPCC Summary for Urban Policymakers to understand what global warming of 1.5°C means for cities.3) Do we specify timelines and verifiable targets? How well do we outline the existing local conditions, including the baseline emissions, 2050 trajectories, climate risk and socioeconomic priorities? Do we deliver wider social, environmental and economic benefits? Answering these questions will enable you and your city to move faster and more efficiently through the next steps and subsequent phases. 3 IPCC, Summary for Urban Policymakers: What the IPCC Special report on Global Warming of 1.5°C Means for Cities, December 2018. City-Business Climate Alliances 17 Identify challenges for achieving your city’s goals You will need to concretely and systematically identify the infrastructure, financial or capacity challenges your city faces to tackle climate change. This will help you to think through possible solutions and scenarios and identify ways in which a city-business collaboration can help solve the challenges. Ask Yourself: What barriers Are there What resources What players may my city technologies are missing, yet outside of my encounter from that my city needs essential, for city need to be implementing access to in order advancing engaged for this policy? to achieve specific climate this policy to sustainability policies? succeed? goals? Identify the goals and initiatives that would benefit from an alliance with the private sector While looking through the lens of a potential City-Business Climate Alliance, list your top 3-5 goals and initiatives, exploring how they might best benefit from a city-business collaboration. This will help you better determine opportunities for potential partnerships. Ask yourself: Which sector and which companies are the largest contributors to my city’s emissions4? Who are the largest employers in my city? Which companies in my city have already made commitments to sustainability – for example, are there companies that have already committed to the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), received an A score from CDP5, signed up to become 100% renewable (RE100)6, or committed to transitioning to electric vehicles (EV100)7 and would also be good partners? Are there key industries in my city with deep community or financial connections that could be better utilized by the city government through a partnership? Are there new businesses that align with our priorities who may be ripe for partnership? Which companies have a major presence in my city? What are their priorities for addressing climate change? Can you shed new light on how my city’s priorities are received externally? Do my city’s climate goals meet the needs of the population? Of the private sector? Or both? Prioritize goals and initiatives Once you have identified your goals and initiatives and assessed these against the goals and initiatives of your residents, private sector and other partners, you can prioritize 2-3 goals or initiatives for further development. 4 This will become clear if you report your emissions inventory as part of your annual disclosure through CDP’s cities questionnaire. 5 The CDP website (www.cdp.net) offers a list of companies and cities that are leading on environmental performance. 6 The RE 100 initiative (http://there100.org), co-sponsored by CDP and The Climate Group offer information on which companies are committed to 100 percent renewable power. 7 The Climate Group website (https://www.theclimategroup.org/project/ev100) offers information on which companies are committed to accelerating the transition to electric vehicles. City-Business Climate Alliances 18 Ask yourself: What impact will this initiative have on our city’s climate change goals? Can we carry this on without a partnership? Can we go farther or get there faster if we collaborate with the private sector? Consider opportunities for potential partners to accelerate and support achieving your city’s goals You will learn about best practice for partner engagement in Phase 2, but for now, you will want to have a good enough understanding of potential partners’ goals to determine if the 2-3 priorities will work as a basis for forming your Alliance. For example, if your city’s grid is primarily fossil fuels but several companies have a goal to be 100% renewable – can you work together to aggregate demand? Or if a large proportion of your emissions come from transport – can you work with companies to encourage employees to travel by public or active transit? Disclosure Cities (and the private sector alike) cannot manage what they don’t measure. Without adequate data, a city can only make assumptions on emissions and targets, and cannot track progress. This can limit both climate progress and engagement between partners. Disclosure ensures accountability and allows you to establish baselines. It is important that the necessary data is captured and disclosed publicly through a standardized framework8 and then shared with partners to make sure that all members of the City-Business Climate Alliance: work with the same information better understand their local impacts target the effective actions to take to reduce greenhouse gas emissions Regular environmental disclosure is essential for both cities and companies to ensure they have the granular understanding needed to set up a City-Business Climate Alliance. Cities can find more information about disclosing annually through CDP at https://www.cdp.net/en/cities-discloser Companies can find more information about disclosing annually through CDP at https://www.cdp.net/en/companies-discloser 8 In 2019, CDP, partnered with ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, presented a unified reporting system for city climate reporting, streamlining the process of reporting and ensuring simplicity and standardization. This is available at: https://www.cdp.net/en/guidance/guidance-for-cities City-Business Climate Alliances 19 Phase 1 case study Boston’s Green Ribbon Commission (GRC) A review of Boston’s Climate Action Plan goal to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050 showed that there was a need to align cross-sector stakeholders in order to implement the city’s climate strategy. Established in 2010, the Green Ribbon Commission is a group of businesses, institutional and civic leaders. Its mission is to convene leaders from Boston’s key sectors to support the outcomes of the City’s Climate Action Plan. An analysis of Boston’s greenhouse gas emissions identified the need to prioritize commercial and industrial sector buildings as they account for over 50% of total emissions. Further analysis of this sector found almost one-third of total citywide greenhouse gas emissions came from 50 large property owners. Engaging these properties to take measures to reduce emissions was essential to meeting the City’s climate objectives. The GRC created sector-based Commercial Real Estate, Health Care, and Higher Education Working Groups to focus attention on engaging those key players to surface the benefits from collaboration and help accelerate achieving the city’s goals. City-Business Climate Alliances 20 PHASE 1 CASE STUDY, CONTINUED Members of the GRC are the leaders of Boston’s largest property-owning businesses, educational institutions, and hospitals, as well as top representatives from the three major utilities. Others come from the construction, finance, consulting, and hospitality industries, as well as the faith community, cultural institutions, and key non-profit organizations. The Commission plays three important roles in advancing progress on climate action: 1. Advise the City on the implementation of its Climate Action Plan. 2. Engage sector leadership in aligning their assets and initiatives to support the plan outcomes. 3. Lead, by practicing and promoting best practice examples within and across sectors that advance the Climate Action Plan goals. In recent years the GRC has expanded to include more cross-thematic working groups, including: Climate Preparedness, Cultural Institutions and Carbon Free Boston, and new initiatives, including a Climate Finance Series and a Renewable Energy Purchasing Network. Working groups in action Health Care working group: organized Boston hospitals to report on their GHG emissions one year ahead of a City ordinance requirement and continues to promote technologies, policies, and incentives to accelerate the absolute emissions reduction trend among hospitals. Higher Education working group: established a Renewable Energy Purchasing Network to explore strategies for clean energy procurement; organizing universities (and hospitals) to develop more energy-efficient laboratories. Commercial Real Estate working group: has driven significant efficiency-based GHG reductions (16% since 2009) through the Challenge for Sustainability program; developing resiliency strategies for individual buildings and, in concert, infrastructure management agencies. As a network of networks, Boston’s Green Ribbon Commission plays the role of convener, organizer and researcher. The GRC stimulates stakeholder collaboration on emissions reductions and is an essential initiative for the City of Boston to reach its ambitious goal to reach net zero carbon by 2050. City-Business Climate Alliances 21 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Assess your climate goals Engage potential partners Form your alliance Create and activate your and identify partnership alliance’s plan opportunities PHASE 2 Now that you have a better understanding of your city’s sustainability and climate priorities and have considered opportunities for potential partners to support achieving your goals, you can begin engaging potential partners. The main components of the engagement phase are to: Research and identify potential partners Reach out to potential partners Get high-level buy-in Research and identify potential partners Having the right partners is key to the success of your City-Business Climate Alliance. To identify those you would like to join the Alliance, you need to understand their sector, their environmental impact, their climate goals, and how aligned they are to your city’s goals. Given the need to ensure disclosure and monitoring, all potential partners will need to commit to the principles of cooperation, accountability and transparency. Ask yourself: Can you confirm both mayoral support and city-wide engagement? Are there specific actors in a sector (or sectors), such as transportation, housing development or health care in my city that we can target that will lead to a wider ecosystem of engagement, which can bring in relevant stakeholders? Which private sector actors will have the biggest impact on reducing greenhouse gas emissions? And which ones can support with adaptation and resilience? How aligned are these actors to my city’s climate vision and goals? Have they been leaders in this area already or have they expressed an interest in realigning their current goals to be closer to the city’s? Or, are they particularly high emitting and therefore stand to make large emissions reductions – helping the city to reach its target sooner? Should my city target the most ambitious and committed companies to create a cross-sectoral leadership group that could lead to setting criteria for the broader business community? Or, should my city focus on smaller, community-based firms in order to ensure local community engagement? Are these potential partners willing and able to commit to broad and sustained engagement of stakeholders, peers, employees and others? Are they willing to participate in and accept consensus-based decision-making processes? Will the partners sign a formal letter of commitment? City-Business Climate Alliances 22 Reach out to potential partners Once you know who you want to recruit, it is essential that you have an engagement strategy to do so. This will set out how to reach partners and will set out the selection criteria. Ask yourself: Has my city interacted with these actors in the past? If so, how did it go and what worked (and what didn’t) when we reached out to them? Are there particular members of our city government who might be most effective for reaching out? Are there specific messages we should convey (or avoid conveying) when we reach out? Is there a preferred order in recruiting partners? That is, should we reach out to certain actors before others? And, can certain actors help play a role in which order to identify what partners to recruit? Can a phased approach, one that builds the necessary trust and processes to work well together, create a ripple effect to bring others in over time? Can a partner bring their supply chain companies into the Alliance at a later stage? Get high-level buy-in and engagement Getting and maintaining the political will needed can be a challenge. High-level support will signal to partners that they place importance on the City-Business Climate Alliance and want to ensure its success. Thus, your engagement strategy should also consider how you will do outreach with high level figures. You will want to do this early on to ensure that the next phases proceed more smoothly. Ask yourself: Ask yourself: Should we aim for our city’s Mayor and business leaders such as CEOs? Or, are there others who could offer similar support? Are there other business, civic, academic and community leaders who can play a decisive role? Is there specific messaging that will help persuade some high-level figures more than others? Do we need to bring in other figures to reach out to and persuade our targets to provide support? Will these potential partners be able to participate in steps further down the line, such as taking a part in discussions related to policy and advocacy and project financing? How can we ensure this alliance brings value to participating companies? Finally, do these potential partners embrace a diverse participation and are they willing to include a range of different perspectives, interests and opinions? Once companies have agreed to collaborate, then these three steps should now allow the formation of a core group for your Alliance. The next Phase will offer guidance on the steps needed to formalize this group and start working together. City-Business Climate Alliances 23 Phase 2 partner engagement case study The London Business Climate Leaders initiative Following the launch of the Mayor of London’s Environment Strategy in 2017, the Greater London Authority was keen to explore how they could work collaboratively with London’s businesses to contribute to meeting the Mayor’s ambition of making London zero carbon. The London Business Climate Leaders (LBCL) initiative was launched in September 2018 as a way to meet this challenge. The LBCL consists of businesses who have made ambitious global climate commitments, have a significant London presence, and were willing to commit to working with the GLA to translate these commitments into local climate actions based on a mutual understanding and the collective decision making between city government and business leaders. It also aims to serve as a blueprint for other cities wishing to form a City-Business Climate Alliance and engage larger businesses in their city, particular in cities who have an absence of regulatory powers over the private sector on carbon emissions. The LBCL was supported by C40, CDP and the B team. City-Business Climate Alliances 24 PHASE 2 CASE STUDY, CONTINUED To identify potential partners, research was undertaken to identify companies with operations in London which had received an A score from CDP or had a science-based target or had made other ambitious commitments to We Mean Business Initiatives. Twenty-five companies were identified in this initial group. This was particularly relevant to London, as it supported the Mayor’s climate plans that were designed to deliver on the global goal of keeping temperatures below 1.5°C. These businesses were brought together by the Mayor’s office to undertake a mapping exercise to share their top three sustainability priorities, identify common trends – including not only issues such as delivery of climate measures in London, national level advocacy, awareness raising and knowledge sharing, but also sectors such as renewable energy, transport and buildings and look for possible areas of collaboration. A formal letter from the Deputy Mayor for Energy and the Environment invited the targeted companies to exploratory meetings to ensure an initiative could be designed that reflected the aims of both the Greater London Authority and participating initiatives. In the end, an initial 11 leading businesses committed to joining the LBCL initiative. As this process was initiated by the Mayor of London and his team, getting high level buy-in was largely assured from the city level. Getting such support from businesses was also essential and was achieved through targeted discussions between interested businesses and the Mayor of London’s team. City-Business Climate Alliances 25 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Assess your climate goals Engage potential partners Form your alliance Create and activate your and identify partnership alliance’s plan opportunities PHASE 3 Having reached out to partners, achieved the necessary buy-in and formed a core group, you will now need to build the structures that will ensure your Alliance functions effectively and efficiently and is adequately funded. The main components of the formation phase are to: Design the modalities of cooperation Secure resources Get to know your partners Determine synergies Co-create commitments and targets Design the modalities of cooperation As with any collaboration of diverse stakeholders, you will need a strong governance model, one that articulates and adheres to core principles and articulates your vision. It should also detail the working principles of the partnership and equip the operational teams with the means to implement them. Concretely, you will aim to ensure that the Terms of Reference (ToRs), Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) or partnership contract you draft will clearly reflect those agreements reached. Ask yourself: Have we clearly defined the working principles, roles and timelines?** How will this agreement and structure reflect the overall strategy and set of commitments? Are the Alliance’s goals and objectives clearly articulated and have we set SMART key performance indicators? Are the modalities and the structure designed to look at both the strategic and operation levels? Is the structure designed to enhance effective and efficient decision-making? Is the assignment of roles and responsibilities for each stakeholder rational and clear, utilizing each stakeholders’ value and strengths? Is a monitoring system in place to account for and report on the indicators? Have we included the right resources to conduct public outreach, communication and advocacy? **Why involve the third sector? Partnering with NGOs, civil society organizations or academic institutions ensures accountability and oversight while also providing access to tools such as environmental reporting or research. CDP’s participation in the London Business Climate Leader’s initiative meant that companies within the initiative had support with disclosure and monitoring. Consider which third sector organizations located in your city would be most useful to support your own City-Business Climate Alliance. City-Business Climate Alliances 26 The next step is then to ensure that the right people are all on the team. This should include promoting diversity at all levels, to ensure a range of backgrounds and experiences. This will likely be more representative of the makeup of your city and therefore more inclusive for citizens too. Ideally your team should include: Senior city management, which may include Directors of Finance; Urban Planning; Environment; and, Policy; as well as those supporting specific key thematic areas including Transport, Energy, Waste Management or Health. Leading business members, including business leaders from the local community as well as global companies, represented through their local affiliates, across your priority areas. Large local businesses and global corporations as well as Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) and self-employed entrepreneurs should all be represented. Beyond city authorities and business representatives, bringing in other stakeholders will enhance and strengthen your Alliance. This could include: Civil society organizations, working on issues related to resilience, adaptation and greenhouse gas emissions reductions. Academic institution members, especially those representing institutions with a vested interest in resilience, adaptation and greenhouse gas emissions reductions through research and analysis. Community leaders from other non-profit organizations, and other associations such as the local Chamber of Commerce, real estate associations and local citizen groups can be part of the Alliance. Secure resources Funding your City-Business Climate Alliance can be considered in two distinct stages: 1. In the short-term as the Alliance is being established, when you will need funding to get it up and running 2. In the long-term as the Alliance should become self-sustaining In the initial stages, you will want to secure funding that can help support your early coordination efforts described in the previous steps, hiring skilled staff to move the effort along and so on. In many cases, initial funding streams and revenue sources can be attained through the partners themselves, or local, national and international sources. Ask yourself: Are there city government grants as well as in-kind resources that we might have access to? Can our local government commit any funding? Do the companies and financial institution have grants, e.g. in the form of membership dues, that can be tapped into? Have we approached national governmental agencies (for example, Ministries of Energy, Industry, Environment and Urban Affairs)? Are there funding opportunities through international organizations or international financial institutions (IFIs) such as the World Bank, European Investment Bank, European Commission, UN, Global Environment or Climate Funds? Have we looked at philanthropic or foundations as sources of grants? Is there a potential to secure secondments or in-kind resources to help drive this effort? City-Business Climate Alliances 27 Over the longer term, you will want the Alliance to become self-sustaining financially. As the Alliance gains momentum, partners should explore revenue models tied to its performance, including its long-term greenhouse gas emissions reductions as well as energy and water efficiency. Ask yourself: Can we seek sponsorships or contributions from participating members? Are there “fees for service” that we can consider, whereby the Alliance gets a small percentage of project financing it helps broker and secure? Should we explore sponsorships from external sources? Does the city, state or national government offer longer-term grants? Can we consider add-on charges to monthly electricity, water or sewage bills? Is it feasible to charge brokers fees on property or infrastructure deals that the Alliance may have a role in facilitating? Can the Alliance eventually rely on returns from any asset investment fund that has been established in addition to the project development fund? Acquaint yourself with your partners It is essential that you understand your partners’ sustainability and climate priorities, strengths and how their goals and capacities align with yours. Doing so will allow you to move from broader strategies to determining respective ways of working, capacities and best practices. In designing such mechanisms, ask yourself: Are there ways that we can organize regular and structured meetings where we can better determine each other’s priorities, capacities, ways of working and best practices? How regularly should we organize these, bearing in mind that it is important to avoid these becoming burdensome and take away valuable time from the process? Should these meetings take place in a more formal or informal setting? Determine synergies and possible areas for accelerated action Getting to know your partners better will also allow you to determine your synergies. This can help you to more easily identify focus areas which will be important as you move onto the planning phases below. Rather than spreading efforts over too large a portfolio of possible projects or workstreams, you should consider focusing on a few clear projects and workstreams where the Alliance’s climate and sustainability priorities are clearly aligned and that are likely to yield results. Ask yourself: Will these actions help us achieve our overall carbon emission reduction targets and our core aim of limiting average global temperature rises to less than 1.5°C? Do these quick win scenarios emphasize projects that offer important innovations and creative solu- tions that can be used for future projects? Are these short, one-off wins or do projects also focus on the projects that will be needed to implement the city’s longer-term goals? Have we engaged with and taken account of the needs of the local community? Are there other stakeholders that we could engage who may be well-placed to offer ideas for quick wins? What impact will these have on local businesses and other actors that are not part of the Alliance? City-Business Climate Alliances 28 According to C40’s research on strategic approaches to climate actions in cities, the four most impactful areas that can help your city in moving toward achieving your overall climate priorities and goals are: 1 Enabling next generation mobility; 2 Optimizing energy efficient buildings; 3 Improving waste management; and, 4 Decarbonizing the electricity grid Co-create commitments and targets In anticipation of Phase 4 — creating and activating your plan — you will also want to ensure that you and your partners are working together to meet the same commitments and targets. Though you will have established Terms of Reference or a Memorandum of Understanding to establish your Alliance, it is important to remem- ber that a City-Business Climate Alliance often operates on a voluntary basis. This means that co-creating a set of common goals, in the form of defined commitments and targets, are important steps that can help coalesce the group around a clear direction and consolidate a sense of ownership. Regular reporting — as part of the disclosure and monitoring mechanisms mentioned above — will help keep the group accountable to the jointly-established baseline, enabling a full and transparent assessment of progress over time. As you co-create these commitments and targets, ask yourself: Are these commitments and targets going to help us achieve our overall carbon emissions goals and our core aim of limiting average global temperature rises to less than 1.5°C? Are there specific commitments and targets that should be prioritized over others? Are the commitments fairly distributed amongst all of the relevant partners? Are these feasible and have we set a realistic timeline to achieve our commitments and targets? Are all partners comfortable moving ahead with the commitments and targets? Monitoring Introducing a system of monitoring progress against your agreed goals will help further capture the impacts and progress made by the partnership. Data points for the monitoring can be collected through the company disclosure to the city. This monitoring framework should rely on a baseline assessment taken at the start of the collaboration and run regular progress checks. In the context of a City-Business Climate Alliance, monitoring is about companies reporting their city-bound emissions to the city government, and reporting against the progress they have made towards the commitments they have taken as part of the City-Business Climate Alliance. An example would be the city tracking a commitment made by all companies in the Alliance to transition their fleets to 100% electric vehicles by 2024. Companies would report their baseline to the city and other alliance members and then track their progress against this goal on an annual basis up to 2024. City-Business Climate Alliances 29 Phase 3 funding case study Paris Climate Action Ratified in 2018, the 3rd Paris Climate Action Plan defines the city’s long-term vision to be a carbon neutral city by 2050. The Plan outlines over 500 measures across thematic areas such as buildings, transportation, energy, food, waste and lifestyles. Underpinning the city’s new Paris Climate Action Plan is the Paris Action Climate Charter for companies and organizations, which has been signed by 65 major companies, including Nespresso, SNCF and Sodexo. Together the 65 companies are committed to reducing carbon emissions from their activities by 1,000,000 TCO2e by 2020. At the heart of the charter is Paris’ goal to be a post-carbon and 100% renewable energy city by 2050, while remaining economically attractive to business. To help achieve this, the charter encourages win-win partnerships between Paris and Parisian companies and organizations to drive down emissions. More than 450 companies small and large have now signed the charter and are working closely with the city to mitigate their carbon footprints and to increase their resilience to climate change-related disasters. Updated in 2018, the charter now integrates the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 30 PHASE 3 FUNDING CASE STUDY, CONTINUED The Paris Climate Action Charter is a completely voluntary initiative, which had to be taken into account when designing the initiative’s modalities. The partners commit themselves to the charter and select the SDGs that they plan to work on. Each year, a dedicated steering committee, chaired by deputy mayor for climate change, Celia Blauel, checks the progress of the commitments and prepares the programme of events – including workshops and visits. Each charter is uniquely designed and adapted to the partner. Partners receive dedicated guidance around the selection of the SDGs to focus on and how these relate to the Paris Climate Action Plan and aims. The charter has three levels of commitment; Silver, Gold and Platinum. Of these, Platinum is the most ambitious as these partners are committed to reaching carbon neutrality by 2050 and have a dedicated plan to achieve this. Platinum partners' carbon neutral plans have to be endorsed by the Science Based Targets Initiative (SBTi). Partners are then grouped by level into communities where they can discuss issues and develop partnership actions. To date communities have been established around trade, health and sport. As the Paris Climate Action Charter is a tool to help the city implement its Paris Climate Action Plan and accelerate progress towards its goal of carbon neutrality, the city sees its financial support as money well spent. By engaging partners, the public and other stakeholders through this charter, they become actors in, and ambassadors for, the Paris Climate Action Plan, ensuring that these actors are also committed to reducing the city’s carbon footprint. Securing the resources necessary is based on the fact that Paris Climate Action is a non-profit initiative and becoming a member is free of charge. However, the city manages its implementation and operating costs while companies fund their own participation in the initiative. City-Business Climate Alliances 31 Phase 3 forming your alliance case study the London Business Climate Leaders initiative (continued) Once the 11 leading businesses were identified, the initiative was formalized with a set of Terms of Reference, which were agreed to ensure that each participant had a clear vision of the objectives of the initiative and what actions were expected of them in the first year. This clearly defined for partners the time and resources they would need to dedicate to the Alliance. A series of get-to-know-you workshops convened by the GLA and CDP brought in external speakers to improve communications within the group, stimulate ideas and provide inspiration on how business leaders could deliver their commitments, as well as to unlock direct opportunities. This also helped stakeholders better identify areas they could cooperate on. The 11 Business Leaders also selected “further faster” actions according to their specific operations and expertise that support the actions needed for London to support goals set out in its London Environment Strategy. City-Business Climate Alliances 32 PHASE 3 FORMING YOUR ALLIANCE CASE STUDY, CONTINUED Zero Carbon London 2050 London Climate Business Leaders are working with the Mayor of London to create a zero carbon London by 2050. All companies have committed to taking action in four areas to put London on track for a cleaner, greener future. 2020 2025 2030 Sustainable Buildings: Energy Clean Transport: Develop Sustainable Buildings: Efficiency (EE) targets for zero Electric Vehicle (EV) Optimize building stock carbon buildings infrastructure Waste & Circular Economy: Clean Energy: Purchase 100% Clean Transport: Switch to Reduce waste generated renewable energy (RE) Zero Emission Vehicles by half Clean Energy: Install on-site Waste & Circular Economy: renewable energy (RE) 75% Recycling rates, 0 waste to landfill Based on a mapping exercise which clustered the priorities of the companies with the priorities of the London Environment Strategy, city representatives and business leaders were able to identify actions proposed for four thematic areas — sustainable buildings; renewable energy, clean transport, and the circular economy and waste — and worked together to create commitments and targets, adopting a set of mandatory baseline commitments in each of the four areas. Businesses committed to report on progress towards these commitments and targets every 6 months, and to disclose their emissions in London annually to the GLA. City-Business Climate Alliances 33 PHASE 3 FORMING YOUR ALLIANCE CASE STUDY, CONTINUED Successes to date: The program is an effective collaboration of non-state actors on climate action with an established London-based framework to translate global commitments into local action. It includes net-zero targets especially on new construction and waste, energy efficiency and renewable energy targets as well as systemic transformation targets by introducing Circular Economy actions. The 11 high-profile companies have agreed to use their position and influence to inspire their peers and trigger change within their supply chain, starting with a launch at GCAS. Together with the Greater London Authority, they are aiming at challenging and advocating for stronger UK policies and ambitions. A baseline for London-based emissions has been created in order to measure any emissions reductions in the future. The Morgan Sindall Group have already engaged with their supply chain and secured supporting commitments from six of their biggest suppliers for London-based actions. A few companies are revising their overall sustainability strategy to integrate their London-based commitments and actions (i.e., SEGRO, Sky). Some companies have selected London-based actions that they are not yet able to achieve; however, this sends a strong message to the market and accelerates innovation and R&D (i.e., Tesco, Siemens, Sky). A number of cities in the UK, China and the US have already expressed an interest in replicating this program. City-Business Climate Alliances 34 Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 Phase 4 Assess your climate goals Engage potential partners Form your alliance Create and activate your and identify partnership alliance’s plan opportunities PHASE 4 With your partnership formed and its funding mechanisms secured, it is time to pool knowledge and perspectives through structured discussions and start drawing up a joint strategy with a view to implementation. The main components of the plan creation and activation phase are to: Plan together Inform the public Inform policymakers Be iterative Plan together Through getting to know your partners, you will have already established a solid line of communication within the Alliance, come to deeper understanding of common climate-related goals and priorities, and, identified areas for taking initial steps toward implementing “quick win” projects. You will want to take this a step further, by setting up a series of workshops with a view to drafting a workplan for each focus area. This is important as it not only puts the right people with the right expertise in the right rooms but also helps divide the efforts into manageable workloads. More importantly, this phase is also an opportunity to do deeper dives into the specific areas. In addition to fully mapping stakeholders’ needs and pooling the collective’s knowledge, you will want to explore if the group has successfully tested, or is aware of, a similar initiative. This can identify solutions that may already exist and that can be trialled locally or, where opportunities to adapt projects from others in the group. As you create your workplans, ask yourself: Have we mapped respective needs and put together our collective knowledge and insights as well as look at what precedents exist? Have we pooled all of our knowledge, such as guides, case studies, market research and business cases? Do we have the right experts in each working group? Does the workplan identify and utilize individuals’ capabilities? Does the plan clearly identify commonalities, such as shared best practices and capabilities? If not, are there ways we can further elucidate these through the working group and eventual workplan? Does the plan clearly delineate who is responsible for various projects, highlighting areas where the city is best placed to support an initiative, or where partners are best placed to do so? Are these workplans in line with city regulations and policies or will they need to be changed or reconsidered? Are the timelines achievable? City-Business Climate Alliances 35 Inform the public Garnering public interest and support for the City-Business Climate Alliance will help with its success. As a group, a City-Business Climate Alliance has a strong collective voice and, given a community presence, influence. The public also have a major role in helping to bring about your city’s climate goals and reaching its targets. Thus, having them aware and inspired to act by the Alliance will be an important asset. This should be done in a systematic, timely and well-planned way. Your communications strategy might include a combination of the following materials: guides, case studies, inspirational videos and tutorials or awareness and education campaigns through public events or social media campaigns. Ask yourself: Does our public information strategy provide clear and understandable messaging that informs the public of the challenges that climate change presents? Does it illustrate how the Alliance’s plans and projects respond to this? Are there particular segments of the public that our advocacy strategy should target? Are there segments of the public that can be allies of our efforts? And, are there others that may not be supportive? Does it explain what my partnership is achieving in a way that resonates with the public? Does the messaging adequately explain why the Alliance’s efforts are in the public interest and how the public can help further the joint goals? Which channels are available to you for public engagement? Does it help to carry out a channel audit amongst the partners to determine the best way to get the message out? Inform policymakers While engaging the public can inspire them and help your Alliance to succeed, engaging with policymakers can help push through changes in rules and regulations, national legislation and funding streams that can help the city meet its goals and, perhaps, encourage new climate-related policies and spur the expansion of other City-Business Climate Alliances. As you design your policy advocacy strategy, ask yourself: Does any member of the partnership have contacts at the national government level that would be useful for this outreach? Can they introduce you? Does our policy advocacy strategy provide clear and understandable messaging that resonates with policymakers at the state, provincial and national levels? How can we best encourage them to make state-wide, provincial or national policies that stimulate the type of work our Alliance is undertaking? Are there policymakers that can be allies of our efforts? And, are there policymakers who will try to stop us? Does it explain what our partnership is achieving in a way that resonates with policymakers? Does the messaging adequately explain why the Alliance’s efforts are in the policymakers’ political interest? Does our national government have a public affairs guide that you can reference to determine your strategic approach? Are any of the partners prevented from carrying out advocacy work due to their charitable status? Are there any restrictions? City-Business Climate Alliances 36 Be iterative Regular evaluation and adaptation as well as agile working ensure that the Alliance is responsive to improvement and changing needs. Annual high-level strategic meetings are key to keeping the City-Business Climate Alliance on track despite the inevitable changes of context, priorities and constraints – such as elections, staff movement and changes in the national and global landscape – that will often occur. Ask yourself: Have we embraced the disclosure and monitoring mechanisms which will ensure that evidence-based informed decisions are taken and updated? Do we have all of the data needed to take stock of the progress achieved? How do we assess the new context and identify the priorities for the year ahead? Are there new tools that can help to conduct such an assessment? Have we taken into account these contextual changes, including bringing in new stakeholders as needed? Have we adequately reflected on the challenges encountered and make adjustments to the course of actions? City-Business Climate Alliances 37 Phase 4 case study Smart & Clean Helsinki Established in 2016, Helsinki Metropolitan Smart & Clean Foundation is a five-year ‘step change’ project with 29 public and private partners from the Helsinki Metropolitan cities, businesses, universities, research institutions, and state actors. Smart & Clean aims to develop and accelerate concrete climate solutions that allow cities and residents to reduce their carbon footprint and to improve their quality of life. The initiative aims to achieve this by embedding a permanent public-private-people co-creation model. The Foundation has now built seven ecosystems tackling housing and renovation; smart mobility; air quality; urban food markets; and storm water quality. The Foundation’s spearhead project is building a circular economy for plastics. This means that the city and businesses are working and planning together to tackle the plastics value chain and ensuring that all plastic waste is being reused or reprocessed into new materials. According to their pre-study, just an estimated 6 percent of virgin plastic is currently recycled into new materials. City-Business Climate Alliances 38 PHASE 4 CASE STUDY, CONTINUED Through effective planning they have found that solutions to the region's plastic problems lie in improving plastic waste collection from service industries, construction sites and households. For the project to succeed, they noted that the metropolitan region needs more industrial operators and more plants that process and upgrade recycled plastic materials for reuse. They also identified a need for users and refiners for the collected and processed plastics and to strengthen market demand for recycled plastics. The role of Smart and Clean Helsinki is to identify solutions that have a double benefit of helping to limit global warming to a 1.5°C pathway, while also stimulating business opportunities. Uniting stakeholders and engaging teams in ecosystems means that they are for the first time working intensively and collaboratively to tackle climate change. To do this they follow a step-by-step working method using the following steps: 1 Calculate the CO2 emissions reduction potential of the solution e.g. if plastic was reused rather than incinerated or sent to landfill the emissions-reduction potential would be equivalent to the annual emissions of 80,000 residents 2 Source partners for the project e.g. to create a circular economy for plastics, source industrial partners focused on recycling, product design, waste collection, research and development as well as regulators and citizens 3 Organize workshops and meetings involving the relevant companies, networks and organizations and create sub-projects Almost all projects focused on the city’s urban environment aim to inform the public by having an interface with citizens through interactive services, feedback forms, participatory decision making and public engagement campaigns. Residents are also informed about Smart & Clean via the website and the initiative’s Twitter account. The main message for residents is that collaboration between the city, business, research institutes and citizens on climate solutions will enable residents to live good and carbon neutral lives. Smart & Clean Helsinki also informs policymakers by maintaining regular contact with both Finnish and EU policy makers. Among their aims is to change the way that funding is structured to better facilitate multi-stakeholder ecosystems and advance long-term sustainability targets. www.smartclean.fi/en @SmartClean_Fi City-Business Climate Alliances 39 CONCLUSION Useful reports and guidance City-Business Climate Alliances 40 CONCLUSION City-Business Climate Alliances can help your city to set and reach climate goals aligned with a 1.5oC pathway. The aim of this document is to provide you with a step-by-step guide, to pick up and gain insights on how to set up your own Alliance. Giving real-world examples from Boston, Helsinki, Paris and London, this guide shows that cities can work effectively with the private sector to drive down emissions using the City-Business Climate Alliance approach. We hope that you will use this document with a diverse range of staff in your city to set up your own Alliance and take the action needed to cut emissions and adapt to climate change in a systematic way. Annual disclosure of your city’s environmental data is crucial to this approach, and we hope to see your city amongst our cohort of environmental leaders this year. Useful reports and guidance: IPCC Summary for City Practitioners Focused Acceleration (C40 and McKinsey Centre for Business and Environment) Marketing for Action (USDN) It takes a city: The case for collaborative climate action (CDP and AECOM) C40 knowledge hub City-Business Climate Alliances 41 CDP, C40 Cities, and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) are launching an initiative to foster city-business collaboration on climate. To drive the change needed to avoid climate catastrophe, city governments must work with the business community within their city more closely in strategic and future-focused partnerships to drive down emissions rapidly, limit vulnerability and ensure that cities remain healthy and resilient places to live, work and do business. This City-Business Climate Alliance initiative will provide global peer to peer knowledge sharing and support to cities who intend to set up their own City-Business Climate Alliances at each phase of their journey. To find out more about support available for cities from the CBCA programme team contact: info@city-businessclimatealliance.org Examples of other city-business partnerships worldwide: Athens Partnership (Athens, Greece) GreenCape (Western Cape Province, South Africa) Smart Clean Helsinki (Finland) Innovation City Management (ICM) (Bottrop, Germany) ProKlima (Hannover, Germany) The Atmospheric Fund (TAF) (Toronto, Canada) City-Business Climate Alliances 42