C40 Cities and Arup have announced new efforts to help cities reduce greenhouse gas emissions and become more resilient to climate change. 

Arup has said that it will invest up to US$300,000 a year to help C40 drive resilience and decarbonisation in cities around the world. 

Arup will provide research, advocacy and technical support in areas such as green shipping corridors, green and thriving neighbourhoods and climate resilience. Much of the investment will come from pro-bono staff time in support of projects that align with C40’s mission and draw on Arup’s global technical and advisory skills.  

This will include projects that leverage specific technical expertise from Arup to overcome barriers to climate action in cities, and the development of new and innovative approaches to reduce emissions, increase climate resilience and improve the wellbeing of C40 cities. 

“It’s remarkable what cities are achieving, particularly given the multiple challenges of recent years. Cities are able to move quickly due to their capacity to work with one another, whether that’s technical collaborations, such as Beijing and Copenhagen swapping expertise to slash fuel consumption in district heating, or Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur’s collaboration to decarbonise the building sector. We need to continue making ambitious progress to be truly on track to halve emissions by 2030 in line with a 1.5°C trajectory. We are pleased to be continuing to support cities to accelerate climate action in partnership with Arup, building on our 10-year collaboration.” said Mark Watts, C40 Executive Director. 

C40 and Arup have partnered for more than a decade on foundational pieces of research about the climate crisis. Research projects include the Deadline 2020 and more recently, Green and Thriving Neighbourhoods which was a guide published by C40 and Arup for creating people-centred net-zero neighbourhoods. A new three-year partnership was signed in Amsterdam. 

“We know that the next decade is critical for addressing climate change. Cities will be at the front line, feeling the impacts, but they’ll have the ability to take bold and innovative action. We are committed to working alongside C40 Cities, bringing our expertise, to help cities shift from ambition to delivery at scale.” said Alan Belfield, Chairman, Arup.

Relese and picture: Arup