CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions.
This year, Wellington has been recognised for taking leadership on environmental action and transparency, despite the continued pressures of dealing with the coronavirus pandemic.
To achieve a top score, a city must meet strict criteria including publicly disclosing climate data, having a city-wide emissions inventory and an emissions reduction target. ‘A’ list cities must also have a published climate action plan.
Less than one in ten cities (9.8 percent) assessed in 2021 received an ‘A’.
Cities like Wellington are demonstrating climate leadership through concerted action and showing urgent and impactful climate action is achievable at a global level. However, this action needs to go further and faster to meet the new targets agreed at COP26, which is one of the reasons Wellington City Council recently increased the city’s reduction target to 57 percent between 2020 and 2030.
The Wellington City Council’s emissions reduction plan focuses on transport and urban form, building energy, advocacy, and the Council itself. Almost $30 million has been allocated to climate action initiatives over the next decade, on top of the $226 million investment in cycleways and the zero- and low-carbon transport options planned by Let’s Get Wellington Moving.
Wellington City Council belongs to numerous international climate action initiatives including the 100 Resilient Cities Network,the Global Covenant of Mayors and the Race to Zero campaign.
The capital is one of this year’s top 50 cities in the Bloomberg Global Mayors Challenge and earlier this year was named the number one city worldwide for environmental security in the Economist’s Safe Cities Index 2021, which considers how the city has incorporated sustainability parameters into its urban planning to reduce carbon emissions and manage climate risks.
Check out the full A list of cities for 2021
About CDP
CDP (formerly the Carbon Disclosure Project) was founded in 2000 and works with more than 590 investors with over $110 trillion in assets. CDP pioneered using capital markets and corporate procurement to motivate companies to disclose their environmental impacts, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, safeguard water resources and protect forests. Over 14,000 organisations around the world disclosed data through CDP in 2021, including more than 13,000 companies and over 1100 cities, states and regions.