Empowering city decision-makers: A practical guide to learning for decarbonisation at the city-level

The actions of cities will be pivotal in our transition to a low-carbon future. City-level decision-makers are well placed to influence and facilitate this transition. Decarbonising transport, buildings, and energy is key to combating the climate crisis and reaching self-assigned city-level carbon targets to curb warming and protect the environment. However, deciding which decarbonisation projects to implement is an issue. Choosing the wrong project could have financial or reputational repercussions, thus deciding on an appropriate set of interventions can be challenging for city decision-makers. Learning about the successes and challenges of city-level sustainability projects is vital for decision-makers at the city-level hoping to create of their own low-carbon city. To this end, this article outlines a new, practical method developed with city-level decision-makers that identifies key learning opportunities from other cities based on their own decarbonisation priorities. This city-to-city learning framework makes selecting decarbonisation projects easier and more efficient, as it enables users to identify decarbonisation projects that align with their environmental plans and priorities. The Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) provides a case study for the application of this framework, demonstrating how the learning framework is used to narrow down the most suitable decarbonisation projects for the Greater Manchester city-region, based on bespoke sustainability criteria and targets. This work contributes to the formalisation of city-to-city learning pathways, outlining the ways that cities want to learn from others, and highlighting where to begin this learning process to accelerate climate action.