The Council has been recognised as one of 119 cities across the world to lead the way on climate action, in results published by Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) today.
Receiving the top grade – A – and one of only 13% of cities receiving this recognition, Edinburgh joins cities from across the world including; Auckland, Cape Town and Vancouver.
Council Leader Cammy Day said:
I welcome this news from the Carbon Disclosure Project. Edinburgh has an ambitious target to become a Net Zero city by 2030 and we continue to lead the way in this field.
As Scotland’s capital we want to make sure that a cleaner, greener and fairer future is at the heart of our plans. From pioneering our sustainable active travel and public transport networks, to combatting food waste, and making our houses and buildings more energy efficient, alongside flagship projects like our Granton Waterfront net zero redevelopment, I’m inspired by what I see around the city.
While we’re making good progress, of course there is still so much left to do. We will continue to take bold action to improve the lives of people who live and work in Edinburgh, and to prepare our city for the future. We cannot do this alone. Yes, the Council needs to play a leading role in this plan, however we know that a just transition to net zero needs to be a collective effort across society, involving public bodies, businesses, universities, and our communities.
Further information
To score an A, among other actions, a city must disclose publicly through CDP-ICLEI Track, have a city-wide emissions inventory and have published a climate action plan. It must also complete a climate risk and vulnerability assessment and have a climate adaptation goal to demonstrate how it will tackle climate hazards.
Designed to encourage and support cities to ramp up their climate action and ambition, CDP’s Cities A List is based on environmental data disclosed by cities to CDP-ICLEI Track. A clear momentum in city climate disclosure and action is building – over 900 cities (939 in total) received a rating for their climate action from CDP in 2023. In 2023, just over one in ten cities scored by CDP (13% of such cities) received an A.
About CDP
CDP is a global non-profit that runs the world’s environmental disclosure system for companies, cities, states and regions. Founded in 2000 and working with more than 740 financial institutions with over $136 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 24,000 organizations around the world disclosed data through CDP in 2023 - including listed companies worth two thirds of global market capitalization - and over 1,100 cities, states and regions. CDP is a founding member of the Science Based Targets initiative, We Mean Business Coalition, The Investor Agenda and the Net Zero Asset Managers initiative. Visit cdp.net or follow us @CDP to find out more.