London tops climate change awards in New York

London was this week recognised as a leading global city on climate change action by winning two of the C40 and Siemens City Climate Leadership Awards 2014.

From ten categories London was recognised as having the best air quality project for its zero emission programme for the city’s fleet of black taxis beating schemes from Taipei and Mexico City.

It also won the carbon measurement and planning award for its work to expand the scope of greenhouse gas measurement to provide a more thorough assessment of emissions. In this category it beat Seattle and Vancouver.

The capital was also shortlisted in a third category, energy efficiency in the built environment but was beaten off by host city New York.  The US city won the award for its Greener Greater Buildings Plan, which saw new energy efficiency laws force larger buildings to measure and benchmark energy and water use and make the information public.  

"I commend the winning cities for their leadership and commitment,” said Eduardo Paes, chair of C40 and Mayor of Rio de Janeiro. “And I am confident that their knowledge and experience will help drive other cities to implement on-the-ground solutions faster and more efficiently. Through cooperation and collaboration, cities continue to deliver the results that are having a global impact."

This year the awards saw 87 entries into 10 categories, with 31 schemes shortlisted. The winning cities are:

• Amsterdam (Finance & Economic Development)
• Barcelona (Intelligent City Infrastructure)
• Buenos Aires (Solid Waste Management)
• London (Carbon Measurement & Planning and Air Quality)
• Melbourne (Adaptation & Resilience)
• New York City (Energy Efficient Built Environment)
• Portland (Sustainable Communities)
• Seoul (Green Energy)
• Shenzhen (Urban Transportation)

A final citizen's choice award made by public vote was made to Taipei for its clean air programme. By rewarding low-pollution vehicles and encouraging cycling and transit use, Taipei reduced pollution emissions and improved air quality and public health.

This year marks the second collaboration between C40 and Siemens on the City Climate Leadership Awards. An independent, seven-member judging panel consisting of former city mayors, architects, representatives of the World Bank, as well as C40 and Siemens will select the ten winners in New York on 22nd September.

Chief Executive Officer of C40 Mark Watts will be discussing how environmental policies can drive the development of modern and sustainable cities at the Environmental Industries Commission Annual Conference on 2nd December 2014.

• EIC Conference information here:

• Read more about the winning projects here: 

• More from Infrastructure Intelligence on climate change: 

http://www.infrastructure-intelligence.com/article/aug-2014/london-leads...
http://www.infrastructure-intelligence.com/article/aug-2014/climate-posi...
http://www.infrastructure-intelligence.com/article/feb-2014/cities-are-s...