4.4: Living Laboratories

As discussed in Solution #4, cities, states, and regions can serve as living laboratories to test climate solutions and apply the lessons learned to scale solutions up to national and international levels. This living laboratory approach applies not only to governance solutions, but also to the entire range of climate solutions we have discussed.

Mitigation efforts are already underway in a range of local and regional jurisdictions worldwide and at a range of major corporations and universities. As described below, dozens of major cities worldwide have adopted climate action plans (CAPs), setting targets for mitigation and describing specific actions they will take to achieve those targets. Many of these CAPs include emissions reduction targets of 10%–30% by 2030 and 80%–90% by 2050, consistent with the targets described in Solutions #1, #7, and #8.

Cities are well positioned to engage in climate action, as they are typically more responsive to the needs and demands of their citizens, and their smaller scale enables them to act relatively quickly, compared with national governments. Several major cities, including Stockholm, Oslo, Melbourne, and Seattle, have pledged to become completely carbon-neutral by 2050. Successful climate solutions can be scaled globally as cities share their solutions and best practices through networks such as C40 and the Under2 Coalition, as discussed below.

State and regional initiatives can provide a bridge between city-scale actions and national policies. In addition to cities, the Under2 Coalition includes both state and regional jurisdictions. Another example of state-led initiatives is the US Climate Alliance of state governors, established in 2017 in response to the US federal government’s announcement of its intention to withdraw from the Paris Agreement. Member states have committed to greenhouse gas reductions consistent with the original US commitment to cut emissions 26%–28% below 2005 levels by 2025.

While the group is still in the early stages of development, its membership has grown to include 17 governors from both major political parties, representing roughly one-third of the US population and 40% of its economy.

Similarly, major corporations typically have greater autonomy to act on climate change than most national governments. Several major corporations have already achieved carbon neutrality or plan to reach carbon neutrality in the near future. Many of the companies that have become carbon-neutral or are close to achieving carbon neutrality are in the technology sector, such as Google, Microsoft, and Adobe; or in the financial sector, such as Goldman Sachs and Swiss Re. However, manufacturers such as Volvo and Siemens have also committed to carbon neutrality by 2040. These plans have impacts beyond the companies themselves; for example, local communities hoping to attract large companies such as Google may be motivated to invest in renewable energy to meet their corporate requirements.

In the following sections we’ll look at a few examples of groups and initiatives that are aimed at testing solutions in local or regional living laboratories and at sharing their results at national and international levels.

C40

Figure 4.4.1 Map of C40 member cities. Reproduced with permission from C40.

The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group (C40) is an international organization of cities committed to taking action on climate change. The group originated when Ken Livingstone, then mayor of London, called together representatives from 18 different cities to design an agreement to mitigate climate pollution. In 2006, the group merged with the Clinton Climate Initiative, increasing the network to 40 cities. As of 2017, the C40 network included 96 of the world’s largest cities (Figure 4.4.1), representing over 700 million citizens and 25% of the global gross domestic product.

To participate, a city must (1) set a target for reducing emissions, (2) develop a climate plan with concrete initiatives to meet its target, and (3) actively share best practices with other cities in the C40 network. A new condition was added in 2017: by the end of 2020, every member city must have a comprehensive, measurable climate action plan designed to provide low-carbon development that is consistent with the goal of limiting global warming to no more than 1.5°C above preindustrial levels, as recommended in the 2015 Paris Agreement. C40 indicates that cities have the potential to carry out more than 40% of the emissions reductions required to achieve this target.

Through C40, city officials are linked to a range of collaborative networks that share knowledge on best practices and data metrics that advance climate actions and inspire their city peers. Thirty percent of all climate actions in C40 cities are being delivered thanks to city-to-city collaboration. The networks cover topics of high priority to C40 cities and are categorized under five initiative areas: adaptation implementation; air quality; energy and buildings; food, waste, and water; and transportation and urban planning. C40 also provides financing for technical assistance to help cities in Africa, Asia, and Latin America develop climate action plans.

Under2 Coalition

Figure 4.4.2 Map of Under2 Coalition members as of late 2017. Reproduced with permission from Under2 Coalition.

Like C40, the Under2 Coalition is a prime example of efforts to scale up local and regional solutions to the national and international levels. Initiated by California and the German state of Baden-Württemberg in late 2015, the coalition grew to 205 members in 43 countries by late 2017, representing more than 1.3 billion people and 40% of the world’s economy (Figure 4.4.2). Members have committed to plan for emissions reductions of 80% below 1990 levels by 2050 and have agreed to work in partnership to learn from each other’s experiences. The coalition has set a goal of including the most significant subnational governments from all parts of the world by 2020, with every member government actively participating in the coalition’s work.

California as a living laboratory

The state of California is well positioned to act as a living laboratory for climate solutions. California is a large and diverse state, with a population of nearly 40 million and the fifth-largest economy in the world. The state encompasses major urban centers but also large areas dominated by agriculture and forestry, providing the ability to test a wide range of climate solutions.

Moreover, California is regarded as a global leader in addressing climate change. The centerpiece of California’s climate policies is Assembly Bill 32, the Global Warming Solutions Act, enacted in 2006 and extended through subsequent legislation.

Figure 4.4.3 California’s climate strategy. Reproduced with permission from the California Air Resources Board.

The policies employed by California to meet its climate goals span most of the six clusters and ten solutions introduced in the previous sections, including increased building energy efficiency, renewable power generation, increased vehicle fuel efficiency, and low-emission vehicles (Figure 4.4.3). California has adopted the three-lever approach recommended in Solution #1, targeting emissions of both CO₂ and superpolluting SLCPs and promoting carbon sequestration in soils. California has also established a market-based cap-and-trade emissions permit system (discussed in Chapter 9).

As seen in Table 4.4.1, California has defined emissions targets for three time periods. The first target, established by executive order in 2005, is a return to 1990 emissions levels by 2020, with 33% of electric power generated from renewables. California is well on the way to meeting its 2020 goals. Analysis shows that the state achieved its emissions target in 2016, 4 years early, and generated 32% of its electricity from renewables in 2017.

Table 4.4.1 California climate targets

Year	Greenhouse Emissions	Electricity from Renewables
	Targets
2020	Return to 1990 levels	33%
2030	40% below 1990 levels	50%
2050	80% below 1990 levels	100% (by 2045)

The state also established a goal of cutting emissions to 80% below 1990 levels. In 2015, new legislation set an intermediate target to cut emissions to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030 and to generate 50% of electricity from renewables. In 2018, California added a new goal, passing legislation that requires 100% of its electricity to be generated by renewables by 2045. These targets are ambitious but highlight California’s strong and ongoing commitment to leadership in climate mitigation.

Fears that California’s ambitious emissions targets might inhibit economic growth have so far proved to be unfounded. Between 2000 and 2014, California cut its emissions by 5%–10% while its gross domestic product (GDP) grew by over 25%. This example clearly shows that we can decouple economic growth from CO₂ emissions.

University of California Carbon Neutrality Initiative

Universities typically have access to a wealth of policy and technical expertise and are well positioned to act as living laboratories. One particularly noteworthy example is the University of California (UC) Carbon Neutrality Initiative. Under this initiative, announced in 2013 by UC president Janet Napolitano, the ten UC campuses have pledged to become carbon-neutral by 2025, with net zero greenhouse emissions from their buildings and vehicle fleets. Many UC campuses are pursing innovative climate solutions. For example, UC Irvine has adopted a Campus as a Living Laboratory for Sustainability model and is pursuing a range of mitigation options, including energy-efficient buildings, widescale adoption of solar power, buses powered by hydrogen fuel cells, and the development of its own microgrid. In addition, UC San Diego has created its own microgrid, which supplies more than 90% of campus power needs.