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World cities follow Oslo’s example with 'budget' approach to emissions

The Local Norway
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World cities follow Oslo’s example with 'budget' approach to emissions
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New York City plans to make a budget for emissions in a similar way to how city authorities plan spending. The model was first introduced by Oslo in 2017.

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The Norwegian capital was the first city in the world to introduce the model when it was brought in two years ago, NRK writes.

A string of other global cities including Rio de Janeiro, Toronto, Vancouver, San Francisco, Stockholm, Amsterdam, Paris, Copenhagen and Helsinki are planning a similar approach, the broadcaster reports.

The news comes from last week’s C40 summit in Copenhagen, which brought together mayors from international cities for talks on how major conurbations can reduce their climate impacts.

C40 is a network of 94 cities across the world in which Oslo acts as a form of ‘test city’ in which new models for tackling climate change can be tested.

The Norwegian city was the first in the world to implement a climate budget, in 2017. The idea has since caught the attention of peer cities abroad.

“All over the world, there is a struggle with climate targets set by politicians reaching many years into the future but not being followed well enough. The climate budget makes it clear what should be done next year, not ten years into the future, meaning responsibility disappears,” Oslo municipality climate councillor Man Marie Berg told NRK.

“(The budget) places responsibility clearly on individual city authorities and on businesses within municipalities,” Berg continued.

On purpose of the budget is to enable cities to figure out where emissions are coming from, the extent of the emissions and how they can be reduced.

New York City could become the first big U.S. city to budget its climate-changing emissions like its finances, following the model pioneered by Oslo, HuffPost reported in September. 

“This raises the urgency at every level of government and makes clear what stakes we’re playing for,” Democratic councilman Costa Constantinides told HuffPost.

READ ALSO: Oslo wants you to save water by peeing in the shower

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