Former Lord Mayor of Melbourne

"At the end of the day, it's about people power" 

At COP28, Sally Capp, the Lord Mayor of Melbourne, underscores the critical role cities play in addressing climate change. Representing urban areas responsible for significant emissions, she advocates for city leadership in climate solutions. Melbourne, facing challenges like extreme heat and stormwater events, is aiming for 100% renewable energy by 2030 and net-zero emissions by 2040.  

Adaptation is crucially important, and Melbourne has create an Urban Forest Strategy to keep streets cool and bring nature into cities. This was created based on learnings from interactions with global city networks like C40. This programme promotes urban greening to mitigate heat impacts and has inspired collaborative projects with private sectors, such as garden rooftops and vertical gardens.  

Public-private partnerships are vital in helping cities achieve climate goals, and Melbourne has successfully reduced emissions by 76% through such collaborations. With 60% of the city's emissions stemming from commercial buildings, Capp stresses the urgency of electrifying and retrofitting these structures with the help of private partners. 

Buoyed by the collective human effort and collaboration witnessed at the conference, Capp is optimistic about the conference. There is a power in united action to drive meaningful change against the climate crisis.