By 2035, global fossil fuel use must be reduced to 50% of 2020 levels - or else we will face uncertain and serious consequences. But the fossil fuel industry keeps forging ahead, making billions at the expense of all of us, through attempts to re-brand fossil gas as a clean energy alternative, using disinformation narratives to delay and deceive, and advocating for the building of new fossil fuel infrastructure. One way to combat these actions of the fossil fuel industry is to collate and make a...
Apr 16, 2024•52 min•Season 3Ep. 7
Next time on Cities 1. 5, it's a special takeover episode! Acquisitions Editor at University of Toronto Press, Jodi Lewchuk, interviews David about his book, Solved: How the World's Great Cities Are Fixing The Climate Crisis . Solved has just been released in paperback this week with an all-new chapter. David will be at the University of Toronto Bookstore on Wednesday, April 17th to celebrate the launch. Visit utpjournals.press for all the details - we'd love to see you there. And tune in to the...
Apr 11, 2024•51 sec
Cities stand on the frontline of the climate crisis - so they must also work to create frontline policies that support the global systems change required to ensure that cities have a future. Thanks to philanthropic support from both Global North and Global South organisations, the scientists, artists, and community leaders around the world who are making a climate-assured future possible are ensuring we are one step closer to this becoming reality. Photo by Towfiqu barbhuiya on Unsplash Featured...
Apr 09, 2024•42 min•Season 3Ep. 6
Efforts to address the climate crisis are under siege beneath a rising tide of mis- and disinformation, with smear campaigns often funded and coordinated by vested interests such as the fossil fuel industry, climate conspiracists looking for cash and clicks, and even national governments. We all have a part to play - we must take responsibility for the information we consume and share to ensure a prosperous, healthy future for ourselves…and our planet. Photo by Andrew Neel on Unsplash Featured i...
Apr 02, 2024•53 min•Season 3Ep. 5
Being able to breathe clean air should be a human right but, according to the World Health Organization 99% of the world’s population lives in areas exceeding safe pollution limits, which has huge impacts on public health. Air pollution, climate impacts, and social justice are three sides of the same issue, demanding an intersectional response that not only makes space for the voices of the most impacted, but also the most disenfranchised. Image Credit: Photo by Sai De Silva on Unsplash Featured...
Mar 26, 2024•46 min•Season 3Ep. 4
Ecological economics lies at the heart of the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and C40’s mission. It recognises that the former gold standard of measuring economic success – the growth of gross domestic product, or GDP – is no longer fit for purpose, despite the fact that it’s the model that most national governments still rely on. Policies that allow us to prioritize the vitality of both people and the environment - and potentially a systemic re-think of our economic global systems - ...
Mar 19, 2024•40 min•Season 3Ep. 3
Last year's COP28 conference ended with a historic first: after dramatic and tense negotiations lasting deep into the night, representatives from across the globe agreed upon a roadmap to transition away from dirty energy. But does the agreement fall short of what is required if the world is to avoid breaching crucial and deadly climate tipping points? Image Credit: © Maurizio Martorana - C40 Featured guests: Mark Watts , executive director of C40 Cities, is building a reputation as one of the m...
Mar 12, 2024•47 min•Season 3Ep. 2
The UN Women slogan for International Women’s Day 2024 is “Invest in women: Accelerate progress,” and in support of this goal we’re opening Season 3 of Cities 1.5 with a production team takeover! David Miller may be the voice of the podcast, but our amazing production team is all female. Also, we hear from two amazing women who are working to ensure that women’s voices are heard, mainstreamed and amplified, and that their needs are centred in the battle to stop climate breakdown. Image Credit: P...
Mar 05, 2024•52 min•Season 3Ep. 1
This past December, COP28 signalled the beginning of the end of the fossil fuel era. 150 heads of state came to the consensus that in order to halve emissions by 2030 - the target that scientists have warned us be must adhere to in order to avoid climate catastrophe - we must transition away from dirty energy. This is a monumental moment for our planet…and cities are going to be leading the way as we execute on these actions. In season 3 of Cities 1.5, host David Miller is speaking to urban lead...
Feb 27, 2024•3 min0
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has been warning us for decades that record-breaking, hot, fire- and smoke-filled summers like the one we just experienced will continue to be the new normal without huge and immediate cuts in global greenhouse gas emissions. The latest IPCC report serves as our last warning: carry on as we are and we’ll face ever-increasing extreme climate events, such as the terrible wildfires which just raged across Canada, leading to loss of life, property...
Nov 28, 2023•51 min•Season 2Ep. 12
In the face of enforced mass migration, the rising cost of recovery from increasing climate disasters, and an uncertain future without drastic and immediate action, it’s important to hold up examples of cities and projects that are successful in their innovative climate actions. In this episode, we look at climate projects in Curitiba, Brazil, and Barranquilla, Colombia, that are working towards saving the planet while making their cities more prosperous and resilient. Featured guests: Mayor Raf...
Nov 21, 2023•40 min•Season 2Ep. 11
“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”: the first line of the Charles Dickens novel A Tale of Two Cities is an idea that the two cities featured in this episode’s case study know all too well. The Global South’s Nairobi, Kenya and the Global North’s Rotterdam in the Netherlands are half a world apart, but they’re each facing similar and equally dire climate consequences that are caused by and a threat to the major economic driver of import and export in their cities. But in the fa...
Nov 14, 2023•46 min•Season 2Ep. 10
July 2023 was the hottest month globally since records began. Combine that with several months filled with a series of extreme weather events - from heatwaves in Europe, North America and Asia, to wildfires in Canada and Greece - and it’s undeniable that the impacts of climate change that experts have long been warning us about are here today. And the worse news is that it’s only going to get hotter. Featured guests: Eugenia Kargbo is Freetown, Sierra Leone’s Chief Heat Officer. Her role is the ...
Nov 07, 2023•33 min•Season 2Ep. 9
Climate breakdown is happening, and the cost of ignoring this phenomenon will be far greater than the cost of immediate action. We know that green investments promote the transition to a more resilient, prosperous, and sustainable economy. But what are the steps that cities need to take in order to shift their investments away from fossil fuels? How can policy makers support the creation of good, green jobs - while still protecting the climate? Featured guests: Daniel Zarrilli is the Special Adv...
Oct 31, 2023•50 min•Season 2Ep. 8
C40 and the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy are providing an opportunity for cities to rethink conventional economic systems, like capitalism, that have led to the climate crisis. It is abundantly clear that the economic rules and systems created after WWII have led to twin crises: climate change and continued inequality. It’s necessary to unpack these theories to better understand their impacts and relation to climate breakdown and figure out more effective economic strategies that c...
Oct 24, 2023•50 min•Season 2Ep. 7
The traditional economic concepts that the Global North has been using since WWII assume that there is an infinite planet and that pollution has no economic consequences - assumptions that are wildly wrong. In contrast, ecological economics is a model designed to respect the fact that our economy exists on a finite planet and puts more emphasis on the quality of economic activity than its quantity. But a shift in mindset of this magnitude to embrace this new way of thinking requires guidance and...
Oct 17, 2023•39 min•Season 2Ep. 6
In this episode, we discuss what cities can do - and are already doing - to combat climate change, while also considering how cities can communicate these policies. Communication means exchanging and listening to ideas; and in the climate context, to fight back against the propaganda of the fossil fuel industry, far-right political movements and online conspiracy theorists. Mayors and governments need to think about how they communicate with their constituents about their plans for phasing out f...
Oct 10, 2023•51 min•Season 2Ep. 5
Striving for Climate Justice and Resilience is one of the most important goals at the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy and C40 Cities. The forthcoming Volume 2.3 of the journal will be dedicated specifically to climate justice and resilience because the people and places least responsible for the problem are the ones who often bear the largest burden, and cities need to be doing their part to make resilience more equitable. Featured guests: Geci Karuri-Sebina is an Associate Professor ...
Oct 03, 2023•51 min•Season 2Ep. 4
There’s a crucial link between good green jobs and public transport - in London, and around the world. This episode features a live podcast conversation that was organised by C40 Cities and the International Transport Workers Federation and recorded at London Climate Action Week in June 2023. Inspired by the mission of delivering a fair, inclusive, and just climate transition, this session titled “Investing in public transport: boosting green jobs and climate action” includes voices from London,...
Sep 26, 2023•48 min•Season 2Ep. 3
As we aim toward a 1.5 degree future, we need to fundamentally shift the way we lead our cities. One substantial change is that cities need to look to a new form of governance - one that places climate action at its heart. A critical tool for cities is a climate budget: a governance system that offers a way for cities to turn climate commitments into funded and measurable actions across their government. C40 recently worked with a group of international cities to adapt climate budgeting to their...
Sep 19, 2023•45 min•Season 2Ep. 2
According to the UN, cities generate up to 75 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions - so we know that cities are the key to unlocking many of our much-needed climate solutions. While larger cities with greater population densities have bigger ecological footprints, emissions are being generated by all cities from around the world; small but mighty cities have a critical role to play too. We all share the same coastlines, and we all breathe the same air - and it might be time to look to smal...
Sep 12, 2023•38 min•Season 2Ep. 1
Cities 1.5 is returning for Season 2 — and we’re STILL dedicated to maintaining rising global temperatures to a maximum of 1.5º Celsius. Starting September 12th 2023, join host David Miller each Tuesday as he speaks to even more mayors, youth leaders, researchers, and urban climate defenders who are working toward transformative solutions to today’s most pressing climate challenges. We’ll be exploring topics like climate budgeting, innovations that are saving cities, case studies, the latest cli...
Aug 29, 2023•4 min0
Cities 1.5 is returning for a second season — and we’re STILL dedicated to maintaining rising global temperatures to a maximum of 1.5º Celsius. Starting September 2023, join host David Miller each Tuesday as he speaks to even more mayors, youth leaders, researchers, and urban climate defenders who are working toward transformative solutions to today’s most pressing climate challenges. The fight toward a resilient world is closer than you think — subscribe to Cities 1.5 so you don’t miss a single...
Jun 27, 2023•3 min0
Global youth activists have emerged as the most inspiring voices in the climate movement. They have organized and campaigned to demand concrete and ambitious action from world leaders, and they have successfully put the climate emergency at the center of the global political agenda. Youth activists are rightfully challenging the status quo: showing us exactly how ineffective our current actions are and offering us solutions on what needs to be done today to ensure a climate-safe future…because i...
Feb 28, 2023•32 min•Season 1Ep. 6
As the impacts of climate breakdown intensify, the cost of living crisis takes hold globally, and levels of inequality remain stubbornly high, it begs the question: is our economic system working to meet the needs of people and the planet? The climate science is unequivocal and clear - the 1.5 degree threshold is swiftly approaching, and we can no longer rely on conventional economic models that do not recognize the ecological limits of the planet. Cities around the world are leading the way in ...
Feb 21, 2023•46 min•Season 1Ep. 5
As vulnerable and marginalized communities bear the brunt of the impacts from climate change, ensuring they have an active role in climate solutions is critical. Mayors and cities are uniquely positioned to ensure marginalized groups are included in the solution. By taking an inclusive and equitable approach to climate action, cities can build trust with communities and in turn develop stronger, more effective climate policies. In addition to climate action led by cities, there are wider economi...
Feb 14, 2023•44 min•Season 1Ep. 4
The dirty truth about “natural” gas is that there’s nothing clean or green about it - in fact, it's as dirty as coal. From a carbon emissions perspective, the continued use of fossil gas is incompatible with the 1.5 degree goal of the Paris Agreement, and it must be rapidly phased out. The global energy crisis we're currently facing has shone a light on our over reliance on fossil gas and the social and economic costs it imposes on society. Cities have a big role to play in the energy transition...
Feb 07, 2023•41 min•Season 1Ep. 3
In the global transition away from fossil fuels to a world fueled by renewable energy, new green industries and job opportunities are emerging. As new jobs in sustainable sectors continue to grow, employment opportunities linked to fossil fuels will diminish – which is why the energy transition must have equity at its core. A just transition is a vision for a greener, healthier, and more prosperous future for everyone, where no one is left behind. In this episode, host David Miller speaks to thr...
Jan 31, 2023•45 min•Season 1Ep. 2
1.5 degrees Celsius is a vitally important figure. In the 2015 Paris Agreement, global leaders set a target to limit global warming and hold the overall global average temperature rise to 1.5 degrees. Ever since, city leaders in the C40 network have helped the world recognize that this target is not only essential, but possible—as long as we act quickly. C40 cities are demonstrating what ambitious action looks like and what a future looks like where everyone can thrive. In this episode, we will ...
Jan 24, 2023•43 min•Season 1Ep. 1
Welcome to the Cities 1.5 podcast — a show dedicated to maintaining rising global temperatures to a maximum of 1.5º Celsius. Each Tuesday, join host David Miller as he speaks with the mayors, youth leaders, researchers, and urban climate defenders who are working toward transformative solutions to today’s most pressing climate challenges. Global cities are helping to shape a more resilient and economically stable world through action, climate policies, and research. The fight toward a resilient ...
Jan 03, 2023•4 min0
