2,500 Cities Have Taken Up the Climate-Change Fight

Cities are increasingly moving ahead of countries in setting carbon-reduction goals and initiatives, according to a new report from banking giant HSBC. More than 2,500 cities have now listed climate-change pledges on the Non-State Actor Zone for Climate Action (NAZCA) portal launched as part of the 2014 Lima-Paris Action Agenda , HSBC notes. “We think this is extremely important because NSAs [non-state actors] can move quicker in implementing climate change policies and measures,” reads the report. Cities and other NSAs tend to be faster than countries at making decisions, and are more accountable to their local electorates. They may also have greater control over which budgets can be assigned to climate-change mitigation policies. (Some experts, however, warn that cities are having serious problems implementing their own climate goals.) Metropolitan centers have much to l...