Citi-smokes

With half the world population living in cities, it is well that cities gear up to meet climate change challenges. London, New York and Toronto have signed up to report their carbon emissions as part of the Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP)’s new cities programme.

In partnership with the C40 and Clinton Climate initiative (CCI), CDP Cities is asking the world’s largest cities that have committed to tackle climate change – the 40 member cities and 10 affiliate members – to start voluntarily monitoring and reporting their carbon emissions.

New York has monitored its greenhouse gas emissions and made the data public since 2006 and is already seeing a reduction in emissions, according to Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

CDP has also released a report, The Case for City Disclosure, that discusses how releasing emission data can help cities reduce carbon, improve operational efficiency and drive clean tech investment. (Incidentally, Enzen brought out an inventory for the pollution control board of greenhouse gases arising from transport in Bangalore and surrounding cities. This was the first of its kind in the country.)

An exhibition on in London paints a rather grim picture of climate change and the city. Sometimes one needs to exaggerate to catch the public eye. "Postcards From the Future," a new show at the Museum of London, is an artistic and apocalyptic vision of how climate change could affect London. Not entirely true, it is close to fact.

It's a chilling and scary sight. London after global warming: a square turns into a rice paddy, ice skating down the Thames, Buckingham Palace surrounded by a sea of shanty housing and camels across a park.

It's now or never as we have been told so many times, and still ignore. To change.