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reduce emissions. Today, the C40 network consists of more than 75 cities, representing more than 550 million people. As part of the C40 network, the IEA’s host city of Paris has committed to reducing CO2 emissions in municipal buildings, in part by undertaking deep renovations of 600 public schools to save 65 gigawatt hours of electricity per year. More than 2,000 of such measurable actions have been taken by C40 cities around the globe.Cities are naturally positioned to make these kinds of changes. The density of human, economic and intellectual capital in the world’s cities can be a driving force for the acceleration of clean energy development and deployment. As more and more cities take the opportunity to act as innovation hubs and test beds for sustainable urban energy technology, the closer the whole world will be to providing secure, sustainable and affordable energy for all.Yet this same density that results in a concentration of human capital also results in an ever-increasing demand for power. Over the coming decades hundreds of millions of people will gain access to electricity, a large percentage of these people will live in urban centres. Meeting the twin goal of access to energy and climate sustainability will require cutting the carbon emission intensity of power plants – that is, reducing the amount of CO2 that is released out for each megawatt generated.Unfortunately, many of the megacities of the world, particularly those in Asia, are still powered by antiquated subcritical coal-fired power plants. These have a modelled emissions intensity of just under 1,000 kg of CO2 per megawatt-hour. More modern, highly efficient coal-fired power plants may have an intensity of around 800, yet a natural gas turbine can reach about 350. A coal plant equipped with carbon capture – such as the innovative Boundary Dam CCS project in Canada – can release less than 130 kg of CO2 per megawatt-hour. At the very end of the spectrum, renewable sources like wind and solar have zero emissions.Taken altogether, the current average intensity of power generation today is just over 500 kg of CO2 per megawatt-hour as we highlighted in World Energy Investment 2016. In 2015 the average intensity of new power generation coming online was 420 – signalling an improvement of the average. Yet this is still far from where we need to be to reach our climate goals: a global average of 100 kg of CO2 per megawatt hour from all generation by the late 2030s.The good news is that a major shift in investment towards low-carbon sources of power generation is underway. New low-carbon generation – renewables and nuclear – from capacity coming online in 2015 exceeded the entire growth of global power demand in the same year. Renewables investment, primarily in wind, solar PV and hydropower was almost US$290 billion. Technological progress and economies of scale are driving down the cost of renewables.However, in order to achieve a low-carbon transition consistent with climate objectives, the current rate of investment in energy efficiency, renewables and other low-carbon technologies needs to be maintained up to 2020 then increased rapidly in the following decade.“OVER THE COMING DECADES, MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WILL MOVE INTO THE WORLD’S CITIES, AND MILLIONS MORE WILL BE PLUGGING IN MODERN APPLIANCES AND SWITCHING ON LIGHTING FOR THE FIRST TIME IN THEIR LIVES”There is growing momentum for the role of the city in taking action on climate and sustainability040 GLOBAL VOICES