CDP, the global climate change disclosure non-profit organisation, and the leading city network in the Baltic Sea Region, the Union of the Baltic Cities (UBC), agreed on a two-year MoU to increase the number of Baltic Sea Region cities using systematic reporting of their climate change related actions. After the first year of cooperation UBC more than doubled the number of member cities using the platform and the goal for 2018 is to get up to 50 UBC cities involved.
Climate change has led to a situation where cities have to define their roles in the face of a changing environment. Modernization of cities is also another strong ongoing process. Today, many cities have incorporated ambitious sustainability goals into their city strategies. Currently, some 530 cities, 70 states and regions, and more than 5600 companies use CDP´s system to report, share and take action on climate change every year.
Good news for our UBC member cities is that CDP launched a new and improved reporting platform in 2018. The new platform will allow cities to report their climate data in a simpler and more intuitive way. Also from 2018 on, the CDP reporting platform brings together several previously separate surveys. This is an initiative that aims to save time for cities.
Each city reporting will receive a two-page overview of its response compared to regional averages and access to an interactive tool, which allows cities to access all publicly reported data since 2013 and benchmark their climate efforts. Additionally, cities can use their response data to take stock of their climate action ahead of the UNFCCC’s 24th (COP24) annual conference in December in Katowice, Poland.
The best outcome of measuring and reporting city environmental data, is increased and ambitious climate action development and more feasible transition to sustainable economy.
– We encourage all cities in the region to join this shared cause. Firstly because this new and improved CDP reporting platform offers cities an easy way to report city development and environmental plans and data and secondly the responses give the cities tangible results and offer better understanding on their climate transition, not to mention global visibility for them and the whole region” says Mr. Björn Grönholm, head of the UBC Sustainable Cities Secretariat.
Throughout the reporting period, both the CDP and the UBC will be offering guidance and training for the member cities, including a series of webinars to help cities collect and report their climate data. The invitations to UBC member cities will be sent in February and an additional information webinar will be held in April. The reporting period this year will be open from 14 May until 11th July 2018 - the original deadline was postponed from June 20th to July 11th due to finalising the reporting platform.
About UBC - CDP cooperation
In the XIV UBC General Conference on 24 –27 October 2017 in Växjö, Sweden, a joint report by UBC and CDP on Climate Leadership from Baltic Sea Region Cities was launched. Read more and download the full report from 2017 at UBC Sustainable Cities Commission website.
About CDP
CDP, formerly Carbon Disclosure Project, is an international, not-for-profit organisation providing a global system for companies, cities, states and regions to measure, disclose, manage and share vital information on their environmental performance. Over the past 15 years CDP has created a system that has resulted in unparalleled engagement on environmental issues worldwide. CDP now holds the most comprehensive collection globally of primary environmental data and puts these insights at the heart of strategic business, investment and policy decisions. Follow @CDP on Twitter and www.cdp.net/en to find out more.
For more information, please contact:
Jutta Mäkinen, Network Manager
UBC Sustainable Cities Commission
jutta.makinen@turku.fi
+358 40 628 2725