Featured Updates

Going Green in Cities: 3 Leadership Lessons From London tile-image

Going Green in Cities: 3 Leadership Lessons From London

There’s concern that a global backlash against climate policies is in full swing and that running on climate isn’t good for political campaigns. By leading on climate in the ways shown in this article, elected officials can be confident that climate can, in fact, be a winning platform.

How Portland Should Use $587M Raised for its Clean Energy Fund tile-image

How Portland Should Use $587M Raised for its Clean Energy Fund

The Oregon city imposed a 1% tax on its biggest businesses, with the money going to communities most impacted by climate change. But there’s controversy about what that means.

European Cities Are Becoming Climate CHAMPs tile-image

European Cities Are Becoming Climate CHAMPs

All of the examples from Oslo, Stockholm, and Amsterdam represent new thinking and creative approaches to decarbonizing a complex system in a partnered, multi-leveled way. And that’s the future of climate action and policy.

Release of Guide Centering Justice in Embodied Carbon Policies tile-image

Release of Guide Centering Justice in Embodied Carbon Policies

Year Completed: 2024

A new guide and workbook for applying justice principles to materials resource management, new construction, and alternatives to demolition.

Embodying Justice in the Built Environment: Circularity In Practice explores justice principles and provides a framework for centering justice in embodied carbon policies and planning. Exploratory questions, designed as a workbook, guide the user through a process which centers meaningful community engagement in considering social, economic, and labor impacts and opportunities rooted in an understanding of the local historical context. 

Created by researchers in the Just Places Lab, Reparative Praxis Lab, and Circular Construction Lab at Cornell University in partnership with the Susan Christopherson Center for Community Planning and the Circularity, Reuse, and the Zero Waste Development (CR0WD) Network.

  • Press Release
  • Webinar Recording of an information session on the workbook, presented with a panel discussion by the project team, and featuring questions and insights from webinar participants.
https://carbonneutralcities.org/press_embodyingjustice/
Launch of Handbook for Carbon Neutral Building tile-image

Launch of Handbook for Carbon Neutral Building

CNCA & Arup offer technical solutions for cities to make buildings climate positive with bio-based & low-carbon materials.

NYC’s Commitment To Reducing Carbon Emissions From the Food the City Serves tile-image

NYC’s Commitment To Reducing Carbon Emissions From the Food the City Serves

How NYC is getting plant-based meals into schools, hospitals, and jails.

CNCA’s 1st Online Course: Intro to Embodied Carbon tile-image

CNCA’s 1st Online Course: Intro to Embodied Carbon

Free certification: Life cycle, biobased materials & circularity in construction.

Available Now.

As of 2023, CNCA and One Click LCA offer free certificate course available online for city officials on life cycle analysis, biobased materials and circularity in construction.

Learn More
CNCA Creates Consumer Emissions Policy Framework tile-image

CNCA Creates Consumer Emissions Policy Framework

CNCA & Gaia Consulting illustrate cities’ pathways to reduce Scope 3 emissions from Food, Textiles & Appliances.

Copenhagen’s Hyper-Local Approach tile-image

Copenhagen’s Hyper-Local Approach

How the City is embedding local climate officers within the community.

Toronto’s Poop Power tile-image

Toronto’s Poop Power

How the world’s largest raw wastewater energy transfer system is being built.

Helsinki’s Creative Communications tile-image

Helsinki’s Creative Communications

How Helsinki is using apps and competitions to mobilize behavior change.

Amsterdam’s Action Networks tile-image

Amsterdam’s Action Networks

How Amsterdam is using ‘Action Networks’ to reduce citywide gas use by 15%.

Oslo’s Climate Budget Trailblazing tile-image

Oslo’s Climate Budget Trailblazing

In 2016, Oslo became the world’s first city to adopt a climate budget.

San Francisco’s Creative Climate Plan Messaging tile-image

San Francisco’s Creative Climate Plan Messaging

Most climate action plans are long, dry documents that few people understand. San Francisco decided to change that.

Washington DC’s Urban Agriculture Leadership tile-image

Washington DC’s Urban Agriculture Leadership

5 reasons why cities should create an office of urban agriculture.

Sydney’s Support of Indigenous Wildfire Prevention tile-image

Sydney’s Support of Indigenous Wildfire Prevention

Indigenous peoples’ knowledge of halting wildfires should be tapped more often as climate change stokes blazes from Canada to Australia.

CNCA’s Built Environment Messaging tile-image

CNCA’s Built Environment Messaging

Climate activism can’t leave out the built environment — it generates half of emissions.

CNCA Cities’ New Roles to Tackle Climate tile-image

CNCA Cities’ New Roles to Tackle Climate

What new job titles do cities need to tackle climate change?

CNCA’s Guide for Talking Climate Change tile-image

CNCA’s Guide for Talking Climate Change

To win real climate action, we need to clearly show how that benefits people – and talk more frankly about the risks of inaction.