Real-world experiences from pilot cities informed the first full GPC released on December 8, including:
- Guangzhou, China, is using the GPC to analyze its greenhouse gas emissions trends and design a roadmap towards emission peak. WRI China provides training and technical advice to Guangzhou to apply the GPC.
- Johannesburg, South Africa, conducted its first ever city-wide greenhouse gas inventory using the GPC to establish a 2007 baseline. Total greenhouse gas emissions were estimated at 26.5 million tons of CO2 emissions, 71% of which were from electricity use. Johannesburg is now using this evidence to create a detailed climate action plan.
- Rajkot, India and seven other Indian cities – home to almost 11 million people – set up their very first greenhouse gas inventories using beta versions of the GPC. The GPC guidance has helped Rajkot (one of the GPC pilot cities) plan and implement actions to achieve its 14% CO2 emissions reduction target by 2016 (based on 2011 base year).
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, conducted greenhouse gas inventories for 2005 and 2012 as part of the GPC pilot program. With these results, Rio implemented a series of low-carbon transport, waste management, forestry, and energy efficiency projects. So far, these actions have avoided 378,000 tons of CO2 emissions.
- Wellington City, New Zealand, participated in the GPC pilot program to develop a greenhouse gas inventory for the Wellington Region (including Wellington City and seven other cities) as part of its new climate change action plan to lower greenhouse gas emissions by 30% by 2030 and 80% by 2050 (from 2001 levels).
Going forward, WRI, C40, and ICLEI will organize workshops in cities around the world to train city staff on how to most effectively utilize the GPC to achieve their climate goals. This program will be supported by the World Bank.
Additionally, the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities will use the GPC to help implement low-carbon solutions on the ground in cities. The Urban-LEDS project will support the first cities in emerging economy countries to submit GPC compliant reporting.
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