How Much Power Do Cities Really Have to Combat Climate Change?

C40 Cities, Michael Bloomberg's coalition of global mayors trying to tackle climate change on their own, reports today that their progress is accelerating. Five-dozen of the world's biggest cities (the group actually has more than 40 members) have nearly doubled the number of programs and initiatives they're implementing to adapt to climate change or reduce emissions in the last two years. Among the group, they've now got 36 bike-share systems. Fifty-two cities are planning to phase in LED streetlights. Another 35 are working on BRT.

Fifty-eight out of fifty-nine municipalities that participated in a mammoth status report out today at C40's biannual meeting declared that climate change poses significant risk to their cities (the lone dissenter isn't named). And that, points out C40 research director Seth Schultz, is a refreshing level of agreement on the topic (although maybe it's not that surprising coming from mayors who want to be in a group devoted to climate change in the first place).