Cities have an important role to play in fighting climate change – opinion

Cities play a vital role in the implementation of the Paris climate accord, Christiana Figueres, former executive secretary of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, writes in an opinion piece in the Süddeutsche Zeitung. By endeavouring to produce enough green electricity to cover 100 percent of its own needs by 2025, Munich is an example of a municipality taking the lead on climate change, Figueres writes. Similar action at the local level will be needed across Germany – and the world – if the Paris Agreement is to succeed, according to Figueres. But for such action to take place, cities, national governments, and large corporations must strive to raise one billion dollars annually by 2020 to finance green investments, according to Figueres. “Better future prospects for cities means a better future for us all, who collectively share the planet’s precious atmosphere,” she writes.

Read the opinion piece in German here.

For background, read the dossier Cities, municipalities, and the Energiewende and the factsheet Cities’ & municipalities’ role in the Energiewende.