Welcome to Cities 1.5 Hot Takes: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis. Hot Takes brings you fast, focused coverage on breaking news and underserved stories at the intersection of climate, economics and public health - all through an urban lens.

This first-ever edition of Hot Takes is about a major move in Canada’s energy future…and what it means for climate, cities, and the promises made to hold fossil fuel giants accountable. As Canadian cities race toward net zero, their efforts are being fundamentally threatened by a high stakes federal agreement known as "The Grand Bargain": a political compromise on behalf of the Mark Carney government to build a new pipeline that would transport diluted bitumen from the Alberta oil sands westward across the rocky mountains to the British Columbia coast.

Touted as a bridge to a clean energy future, we go behind the spin to explore the real facts behind this project - and lay bare the reasons many are opposed to this doubling down on promises made by the fossil fuel industry…promises that historically haven’t been worth the paper they’re written on.

Featured guests:

Hon. Catherine McKenna, Chair of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments of Non-State Entities, and former Canadian Minister of Environment and Climate Change

Links:

World Mayors Summit two-part special - Cities 1.5 podcast

83 Countries Join Call to End Fossil Fuels at COP30 - Earth.org

Why Mark Carney’s pipeline deal with Alberta puts the Canadian federation in jeopardy - The Conversation

A Not-so-Grand Bargain - Pembina Institute

Canada may approve a new oil pipeline. First Nations fear another ‘worst-case scenario’ - The Guardian

Watch David’s full CPAC interview

Canada OKs ‘Massive’ $20 Billion Loan for Trans-Mountain Pipeline - DeSmog

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website at https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Listen to the Cities 1.5 five-part miniseries “Going Steady with Herman Daly: How to Unbreak the Economy (and the Planet)" here: https://lnk.to/HDMiniSeries

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and the C40 Centre, and is supported by C40 Cities. Sign up to the Centre newsletter: https://thecentre.substack.com/

Writing and executive production by Peggy Whitfield.

Comms support by Chiara Morfeo.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

In the first episode of our two-part World Mayors Summit special, we heard from mayors around the world about the power of convenings like the Summit to unite city leaders and spark collaboration. In this second episode, we explore what that collaboration looks like in practice, from new approaches to urban planning and the challenge of energy-hungry data centres, to fossil-free trucks and greener and cleaner shipping routes.

We also explore the outcomes for cities that came out of COP30 with voices from people who were on the ground in Belém…and also from a Brazilian climate leader who had a front-row seat before, during, and after what many have been calling the most important COP since the Paris Agreement.

Photo credit: © C40 Cities

Special thanks to Pauline Eloi, Director of the Executive C40 Office and Yasmin Calandrini, Manager, CHAMP National Engagement, for their on-the-ground support in Rio for the production of this episode.

Featured guests:

Kirk Watson, Mayor of Austin, USA

Carola Schouten, Mayor of Rotterdam, Netherlands

Nick Reece, Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Australia

Christiana Figueres, Founding Partner of Global Optimism and Co-presenter of Outrage + Optimism

Ilan Cuperstein, C40 Regional Director for Latin America and Head of International Relations for the City of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

Mark Watts, Executive Director of C40 Cities

Lars Weiss, Lord Mayor of Copenhagen, Denmark

Eduardo Pimentel, Mayor of Curitiba, Brazil

Eirik Lae Solberg, Governing Mayor of Oslo, Norway

Dr. Nasiphi Moya, Mayor of Tshwane, South Africa

Links:

Outrage + Optimism - Inside COP

Learn about the many versions of COP30's "Global Mutirão"

Winners: Clean, Reliable Transportation (Oslo Fossil Free Trucks)

Tshwane C40 Cities regional sustainability masterclass

The Environmental Cost of Data Centers

COP30 Local Leaders Forum Statement

83 Countries Join Call to End Fossil Fuels at COP30

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and the C40 Centre, and is supported by C40 Cities. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Cities 1.5 is hosted by David Miller. It's written and produced by Peggy Whitfield and Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Our executive producer is Chiara Morfeo.

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Cities 1.5 music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

In this first instalment of our two-part special from the C40 World Mayors Summit, Cities 1.5 takes you inside the flagship gathering of the world’s most ambitious urban climate leaders. We hear directly from mayors as they unveil this year’s Offer of Action – a unified commitment that raises the stakes for urban climate leadership and pointedly challenges national governments to match their ambition with action of their own, all on the eve of COP30. We also speak with leading climate experts and C40 partners to explore why cities remain the most effective engines for rapid, equitable decarbonization, and what they must do next to keep the goal of limiting global heating to 1.5°C alive. And crucially, funders share why they’ve chosen to invest in C40’s global network, highlighting the proven impact of coordinated city action and the urgency of scaling it.

Photo credit: ©Bernardo Jardim Photography

Featured:

Sir Sadiq Khan, C40 Co-Chair and Mayor of London

Nick Reece, Lord Mayor of Melbourne

Giuseppe “Beppe” Sala, Mayor of Milan

Yousef Al-Shawarbeh, Mayor of Amman

Keith Wilson, Mayor of Portland

Dr. Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, Executive Mayor of Ekurhuleni

Eduardo Pimentel, Mayor of Curitiba

Caterina Sarfatti, Managing Director of Inclusion and Global Leadership at C40

Haris Doukas, Mayor of Athens

Eirik Lae Solberg, Governing Mayor of Oslo

Søren Staugaard Nielsen, Managing Director of the Ramboll Foundation

Jo Jewell, Director of Social Responsibility Partnerships at Novo Nordisk

Hon. Catherine McKenna, Chair of the UN Secretary General’s High-Level Expert Group on Net-Zero Commitments of Non-State Entities

Christiana Figueres, Founding Partner of Global Optimism and Co-presenter of Outrage + Optimism

Links:

C40 World Mayors Summit: Cities Delivering Global Leadership for Climate Action - Bloomberg Philanthropies, YouTube

C40 World Mayors Summit

From negotiation to delivery:The Yearly Offer of Action

Ramboll Foundation

Novo Nordisk

Cities for Better Health

Green and Thriving Neighbourhoods Programme

Integrity Matters: Winning the Future report

Outrage + Optimism - Inside COP podcast

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website: https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and the C40 Centre, and is supported by C40 Cities. You can sign up to the Centre newsletter here. https://thecentre.substack.com/

Cities 1.5 is hosted by David Miller. It's written and produced by Peggy Whitfield and Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Our executive producer is Chiara Morfeo.

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Cities 1.5 music is by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/