Is your city sustainable?

“The battle to prevent catastrophic climate change will be won or lost in our cities…” (C40 Cities Initiative)


Several studies about “climate-ready” or “resilient” cities have been in the news this week. These rankings are based on factors such as:

• political commitment
• LEED-certified buildings per capita
• university leadership
• transit access/use per capita
• clean tech investment
• energy and GHG emissions


Read on for links to these articles, and the top ten city rankings by geographic area.


U.S. city rankings by CO2 Impact: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/06/top-10-climate-ready-cities/
10. Chicago
9. San Jose
8. Philadelphia
7. New York
6. San Diego
5. Denver
4. Washington, DC
3. Portland Oregon
2. Seattle
1. San Francisco


U.S. & Canada rankings posted by the NRDC: http://www.grist.org/cities/2011-07-05-closer-look-at-siemens-green-cities-rankings

1. San Francisco
2. Vancouver
3. New York City
4. Seattle
5. Denver


Global rankings by CO2 impact: http://www.triplepundit.com/2011/06/top-10-globally-resilient-cities/
10. Tokyo, Japan
9. London, UK
8. New York, USA
7. San Francisco, USA
6. Paris, France
5. Vancouver, Canada
4. Stockholm, Sweden
3. Barcelona, Spain
2. Curitiba, Brazil
1. Copenhagen, Denmark