By bringing leading city governments and climate champions from the private sector together, the City-Business Climate Alliance will help deliver systemic change at the pace and scale we need to prevent the worst impacts of climate change.
The CBCA is an initiative of CDP, WBCSD and C40 Cities - a global alliance forging city-business partnerships on climate action. It is well-positioned to engage with business and city partners on decarbonising key sectors whilst stimulating social and economic benefits.
The CBCA provides the most ambitious city and business leaders with a platform to convene, set joint commitments, co-create, and implement projects that help cities deliver on their Climate Action Plans and businesses on their climate targets in line with the Paris Agreement.
the model
The CBCA framework builds on a comprehensive review of 30+ city-business partnerships from around the world and a pilot project in London, which led to the successful establishment of the London Business Climate Leaders initiative.
The initiative operates a two-tier global model: closely supporting cohorts of cities in building city-business partnerships from conception to long term self-sustainment, while convening a wider network of cities and global businesses to share expertise, advocacy and learnings. In doing so, the CBCA drives both concrete city-level action and systemic transformation on a global scale.
Local City-business Partnerships
At the local level, the initiative works with a select group of cities to build local platforms for city-business collaboration. The first eight Cohort cities, recruited in March 2020 through an Expression of Interest process, include Dallas, Durban, Lisbon, Manchester, New York City, Stockholm, Tel Aviv and Vancouver.
These Cohort cities will receive three years of in-kind, direct support to set up - or further develop – their local city-business partnerships.
Given the many different urban- and business-related contexts in which cities and the private sector operate, there is no single, ‘one size fits all’ model to build a local city-business partnership. However, all the local partnerships joining or established through the CBCA will be expected to act as non-commercial spaces based on transparency and data, and to build a pipeline of projects creating resilient, healthy and prosperous places to live and work.
CBCA Global Network
At the global level, the CBCA serves as a peer-to-peer learning network for cities and business, supported by the Alliance partners, with the objective of replicating best practice approaches and solutions, and accelerating and scaling climate action and advocacy.
CBCA Global Network Cities
Within the Global Network, CBCA cities are divided into three levels: Cohort, Network and Fellow. Cohort cities receive a high level of one-to-one support to establish and progress a city-business partnership. Network cities receive less support and form a global group of cities sharing knowledge and experience. Fellow cities (or ‘Fellows’, when the partnership platforms operate as separate legal entities) have substantial and valuable experience of city-business partnerships and share insights and knowledge with Cohort and Network cities to aid their development.
The Global Network currently consists of 20 cities (visualised in the map above), and aims to engage 100 cities by 2025.
CBCA Global Network Activities
The Global Network activities comprise the following:
Learning by Sharing - peer-to-peer learning through closed-door webinars, workshops and a dedicated online platform.
Communication & Advocacy - showcasing the importance and impact of city business collaboration on climate action during public events, at key summits and through communication campaigns.
Access to Information on external support and collaboration opportunities.