{"id":629,"date":"2014-02-07T09:24:23","date_gmt":"2014-02-07T09:24:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/2014\/02\/07\/arming-cities-to-tackle-climate-change\/"},"modified":"2014-02-07T09:24:23","modified_gmt":"2014-02-07T09:24:23","slug":"arming-cities-to-tackle-climate-change","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.autodesk.com\/inthefold\/arming-cities-to-tackle-climate-change\/","title":{"rendered":"Arming Cities to Tackle Climate Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Free, Openly Available Tool from Autodesk Enables Cities to Set Science-Based Climate Targets<\/strong><\/p>\n

By Emma Stewart, Ph.D., Head of Sustainability Solutions, Autodesk and <\/em>Daniel Aronson, sustainability expert and formerly S<\/em>ustainability Transformation Offering Lead, Deloitte Consulting<\/em><\/p>\n

In December of 2013 Autodesk was honored with a #<\/a>1 spot in the world\u2019s first science-based ranking of corporate greenhouse gas (GHG) targets by Climate Counts<\/a>.  The recognition was a result of Autodesk\u2019s Corporate Finance Approach to Climate-Stabilizing Targets<\/a> (\u201cC-FACT\u201d) methodology, which it adopted for its own operations, but also made publicly available in 2010 to spur other corporations to set  (GHG) targets grounded in climate science.  <\/p>\n

Autodesk, with support from global accounting firm Deloitte, is now releasing a version of the methodology tailored for cities, which represent the majority of global GHGs and are actively setting targets to reduce the emissions from within their borders. With support from Deloitte, as with the original C-FACT for corporations, the city version is a free, flexible, verifiable and transparent approach to greenhouse gas target-setting, that, most importantly, is grounded in climate science. <\/p>\n

As with the original C-FACT for corporations, the C-FACT methodology offers city leaders a step-by-step method for calculating GHG reduction targets that are in line with scientific climate stabilization targets from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change<\/a> (IPCC), and in proportion to cities' relative GDP growth. It seeks to offer a fair, verifiable, and flexible methodology that uniquely combines intensity and absolute targets for cities of varying sizes, GHG footprints, and growth prospects. It allows cities to align their targets with the reduction pathways recommended by the scientific community for stabilizing the climate, but also in proportion to their cities' relative contribution to the economy. In other words, it is aggressive only to the degree needed to attain climate stabilization, not more, not less.<\/p>\n

\"1\"<\/a>Leading cities are beginning to track their GHG emissions through computer-aided analysis tools like this one, and C-FACT offers them a method for reducing those emissions at the pace needed to stabilize the climate. <\/em><\/p>\n

We call on city leaders around the world to step into the global and national political leadership void by setting science-based climate targets, and hope that this C-FACT tool makes that easy and cost-effective.<\/p>\n

Click the links below to hear a phone interview with Emma Stewart and Conor Riffle, CDP<\/a> (an international, not-for-profit organization providing the only global system for companies and cities to measure, disclose, manage and share vital environmental information).<\/p>\n