What Moscow looks like in the climate ranking of the world’s megacities

In the political confrontation between developed countries and the Russian Federation at the UN climate conference in Dubai (see Kommersant on November 30), the “green” part of the Russian authorities found a new way of non-political self-presentation of the country. On December 1, at COP28, Moscow presented for the first time a climate rating of cities based on a non-standard methodology, relying almost entirely on local city, rather than country, data. A critical attitude towards Russian projects in the world can, paradoxically, significantly improve the quality of climate research and projects offered to external consumers.

The Moscow government presented a new study on climate policy and the corresponding rating of the world’s largest cities (cities, according to the UN, are responsible for almost 70% of anthropogenic greenhouse emissions) last Friday at COP28 in Dubai. The reviewers of the study were scientists from Moscow State University. M.V. Lomonosov, calling it “a constructive attempt to evaluate the climate agenda in an urban context based on a thorough analysis of its key elements, which distinguishes it favorably from many international and national ratings.” A significant difference between the study and similar projects is the use of 92% city, rather than country, data and analysis based not on emissions volumes, but on the areas of urban life that have the greatest impact on them.

Having analyzed data from the 20 largest cities on such parameters as energy sources and consumption (weight – 45%), transport (31%), green spaces (18%), waste generation and management (6%), the researchers compiled the rating ” the potential of megacities to counteract climate change.” The city’s score for each parameter ranges from 10 to 100 points and depends on quantitative (basic) and qualitative (corrective) indicators. The first are compiled on the basis of open statistics. The latter characterize the climate goals of city authorities. A city’s final score is calculated as a weighted average of the scores assigned to the city for each of the assessment areas.

London topped the rankings, ranking highly in most areas of the assessment: third in clean transport, fourth in clean energy, sixth in waste management and seventh in energy consumption. In second and third places are Paris and Berlin, which took leading positions in the Transport assessment area (fourth and second place, respectively). Paris also scored highly in the Energy Sources assessment area and Berlin in the Energy Consumption assessment area. The top five also includes Moscow and Tokyo, and the absolute anti-leader is Dubai. Moscow received high scores for the development of environmentally friendly modes of transport and the spread of green spaces, while Tokyo received high scores for the development of environmentally friendly modes of transport and waste management (see chart). “Moscow is one of the most sustainable development-oriented megacities in the world—about 95% of the city’s program budget expenditures comply with these principles,” noted Maria Bagreeva, head of the department of economic policy and city development, citing vast green areas and the development of environmentally friendly public transport as the capital’s advantages. , good results in the field of energy consumption.

Afanasy Sborov