US cities to release carbon reports

Fresh from announcing that up to 30 US cities have agreed to report on their greenhouse gas emissions, the Carbon Disclosure Project has revealed it is seeking to expand the initiative and is in talks with a number of city authorities in the UK.

The corporate reporting lobby group announced late last week that 21 US cities, including New York, Las Vegas and New Orleans, have agreed to report on their carbon emissions with a further nine city governments soon to announce their participation in the pilot scheme.

Under the scheme, city authorities will report on the carbon emissions arising from areas over which they have budgetary control, such as transport, waste, emergency services and public sector buildings, in line with standards set out by the ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability advisory body.

The first wave of cities are expected to provide CDP with the relevant data by the end of October ahead of a full public report early next year.

Paul Dickinson, chief executive of the CDP, said that it was keen to sign up more cities to the scheme, including those in the UK. "This is just the beginning, and we're very much open for business in the UK," he said. "The aim is that good performance in reducing carbon emissions will become a badge of honour for a city that will help it attract more investment."

He added that the reporting protocol developed by the ICLEI-Local Governments for Sustainability would also help city authorities compare the performance of different departments and also provide them with a basis from which to estimate the carbon footprint of the entire city.

The pilot project is the latest in a series of initiatives from the CDP designed to establish carbon reporting as a mainstream business practice. The organisation has already signed up 3,000 multinationals who are now disclosing emissions data in line with the CDP's best practices and is also undertaking a pilot project that sees some of those companies' supply chain partners divulge carbon footprint data.

"We've got companies and supply chains' reporting and this initiative will bring cities and the public sector on line with carbon reporting," explained Dickinson. "Having so many major cities and people like [New York] Mayor Bloomberg on board gives the project a lot of credibility."