Leeds is being highlighted as an exemplar of city-scale action on transitioning to a low carbon economy at the UN climate talks in Bonn. The University of Leeds panel event, to be held today (Monday 13 November) at the UK Pavilion at the UNFCCC’s COP23, includes Lord Deben, Chair  of the UK Committee on Climate Change, and University of Leeds Prof of Environmental Policy, Andy Gouldson, as well as research fellow Andrew Sudmant.

The Leeds Climathon, which spent 24 hours tackling an air pollution challenge set by Leeds City Council, produced five great solutions, with the two winning teams now invited to present their ideas to council members and city stakeholders. Read all about the intensive hackathon held at ODI Leeds, which saw participants testing air quality, using virtual reality and going out on the streets to talk to the public.

A film made at the launch of Leeds Climate Commission  featuring interviews with Prof Andy Gouldson, Chair of the Leeds Climate Comission, Cllr Judith Blake and Cllr Lucinda Yeadon, Leader and Deputy Leader of Leeds City Council, and Commission members Rob Greenland (Social Business Brokers CIC), Helen Stead (Walker Morris LLP) and Chris Thompson (Citu) has now gone live.

The UK’s 50 largest cities could save £7 billion annually and create over 90,000 years’ worth of extra employment by adopting simple measures to cut their energy use and counter climate change.

The most comprehensive survey yet of cities’ energy-saving capabilities shows they are failing to capitalise on profitable opportunities which could slash costs by billions of pounds.