Just over 100 cities around the world sourced at least 70% of their electricity from renewable sources in 2017, a dramatic increase from the 42 that had hit that milestone in 2015, according to a new report by UK-based disclosure and environmental impact researchers CDP.
CDP Climate Change Director Nicolette Bartlett said the quick increase reflects a global shift to renewable energy as well as the larger number of cities—now 570 of them—that are reporting their results. Director of Cities Kyra Appleby said the transition under way in urban centres as diverse as Auckland, Brasilia, Nairobi, and Oslo points to a rising tide against fossil fuels.
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“Reassuringly, our data shows much commitment and ambition,” she said. “Cities not only want to shift to renewably energy, but most importantly—they can.”
Overall, CDP reported 42 cities at 100% renewable energy, another 59 at 70%, and a further 22 at 50%. Of the communities at the 100% threshold, The Guardian says 30 were from Latin America, “where more cities reported to CDP and hydropower is more widespread.
The UK-based paper notes that “much of the drive for climate action at the city level in the past year has been spurred on by the global covenant of more than 7,400 mayors that formed in the wake of Donald Trump’s decision to withdraw from the Paris accord” last June.
