American Cities Climate Challenge

American Cities Climate Challenge
Name	American Cities Climate Challenge
Formation	2017
Type	Initiative
Headquarters	New York City
Region served	United States
Parent organization	Bloomberg Philanthropies

American Cities Climate Challenge The American Cities Climate Challenge is a U.S.-focused urban decarbonization initiative launched to accelerate municipal action on climate change. It mobilizes mayors, city agencies, and local stakeholders to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through targeted programs in transportation, buildings, energy, and waste. The Challenge operates through partnerships with philanthropic organizations, nonprofit experts, and technical assistance providers to scale proven policies across participating municipalities.

Overview

The Challenge was created by Bloomberg Philanthropies and engages mayors from across the United States to pursue emissions reductions through measures in New York City, Los Angeles, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Phoenix, San Antonio, San Diego, Dallas, and other urban jurisdictions. It convenes collaborations with organizations such as C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability, Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, and Rocky Mountain Institute to provide expertise on electrification, building efficiency, and transit. The program emphasizes measurable targets aligned with frameworks like the Paris Agreement and tools such as the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy inventories and the Greenhouse Gas Protocol city accounting standards.

History and Origins

The Challenge traces origins to efforts by Michael Bloomberg and Bloomberg Philanthropies to scale subnational climate action following initiatives like We Are Still In and the historic advocacy surrounding the Paris Agreement. It built on prior municipal networks including C40 Cities, ICLEI, and the Mayors National Climate Action Agenda. Early convenings featured mayors from Boston, Seattle, Portland, Oregon, Atlanta, Denver, Minneapolis', and Miami and drew on technical models from institutions such as Columbia University, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Yale University, and Stanford University. The Challenge launched a formal cohort selection process in the late 2010s, coinciding with policy debates involving the Environmental Protection Agency and state-level actions in California and New York (state).

Goals and Strategies

Primary goals include deep reductions in municipal emissions, rapid electrification of buildings and fleets, expansion of public transit and active transportation, and equitable resilience planning. Strategies deploy policy levers used in cities like San Francisco, Seattle, and Portland, Oregon—including building performance standards modeled after New York City Local Law 97, municipal fleet electrification exemplified by Los Angeles Department of Transportation pilots, and transit investments reflecting plans in Chicago Transit Authority and Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York). The program integrates financing approaches such as green bonds traded in New York City markets, utility partnerships like those with Pacific Gas and Electric Company and Con Edison, and regulatory coordination with state agencies including the California Air Resources Board.

Participating Cities and Selection Process

Participants were chosen through an application process assessing mayoral commitment, baseline emissions, capacity for implementation, and potential for scalable impact. Cities included midsize and large jurisdictions such as Baltimore, Cleveland, St. Louis, Detroit, Milwaukee, Charlotte, Nashville, Sacramento, Raleigh, Omaha, Albuquerque, Tucson, Fresno, Jacksonville, Fort Worth and others. Selection emphasized representation across regions—Northeast, Midwest, South, West—and required engagement with regional agencies like the Metropolitan Planning Organization networks and utilities such as Duke Energy and Southern Company. Technical support came from partners like Arup, ICF International, Energy Foundation, World Resources Institute, Urban Institute, and NRDC.

Key Initiatives and Programs

Initiatives targeted building electrification, energy benchmarking, heat pump adoption, municipal fleet electrification, low-emission zones, transit priority corridors, bike-share expansion, and waste diversion programs inspired by San Francisco and Seattle. Programs included piloting electric school buses with vendors linked to Proterra, deploying LED streetlight retrofits with firms like Siemens and Schneider Electric, and implementing energy performance contracting similar to projects by Johnson Controls. Climate resilience projects referenced standards from Federal Emergency Management Agency and integrated nature-based solutions championed by organizations like The Nature Conservancy and Trust for Public Land.

Funding and Partnerships

Funding stems from philanthropic grants, city budgets, state funds, and private capital. Key funders include Bloomberg Philanthropies, foundations such as the Rockefeller Foundation, Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and corporate partners. Financial mechanisms involved green banks inspired by the Connecticut Green Bank, property assessed clean energy (PACE) programs used in California cities, and municipal green bonds issued in markets coordinated by Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley. Strategic partners included nonprofit consultants ICLEI, C40, NRDC, Environmental Defense Fund, Greenlining Institute, Local Initiatives Support Corporation, and technical firms like RMI.

Impact, Outcomes, and Evaluation

Reported outcomes included adoption of building benchmarking ordinances, accelerated electrification pilot projects, procurement of electric buses, and strengthened climate action plans. Evaluation relied on emissions inventories using GHG Protocol methods, progress tracking analogous to Carbon Disclosure Project reporting, and third-party assessments by academic partners at Columbia University, University of California, Berkeley, University of Michigan, and Johns Hopkins University. Some cities reported measurable reductions in municipal emissions and increased deployment of heat pumps, rooftop solar installations tracked through interconnection data managed by utilities like National Grid.

Criticism and Challenges

Critiques focused on equity, scalability, accountability, and dependence on philanthropic funding. Scholars from Princeton University, Harvard Kennedy School, and Yale School of the Environment questioned the sufficiency of voluntary initiatives versus regulatory mandates like those enacted by the California Air Resources Board or Victoria-style standards in Australia. Challenges included grid integration concerns involving PJM Interconnection and California Independent System Operator, workforce training gaps addressed by labor organizations such as the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, and legal barriers in states with preemption laws debated in state legislatures including Texas Legislature and Florida Legislature.

Category:Climate change organizations in the United States