Cities can learn from comparing their carbon footprints (Economist)

An article in the Economist (September 28th, 2009) "Cities can learn from comparing their carbon footprints" presents a good summary of a paper published in Environment Science and Technology titled "Greenhouse Gas Emissions from Global Cities".

The cities compared in the study are four were in North America (Denver City and County, Los Angeles County, New York City and the Greater Toronto Area). Four were in Europe (Barcelona City, the Canton of Geneva, the Greater London Authority area and the Greater Prague Region). The other two were in Asia (Bangkok) and Africa (Cape Town).

A similar paper 24-2009, "Motorized Passenger Travel in Urban India: Emissions & Co-benefits Analysis" paper presents the emissions analysis of the motorized “in-city” passenger travel from twenty cities in India, covering

• the current trends in four modes of transport (passenger cars, motorcycles, 3 wheelers, and buses)
• estimated energy consumption for the assumed growth patterns, and
  
• possible co-benefits of three combined scenarios (public transport, policy reforms, and non-motorized transport).
  

The cities included in this analysis are Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Kanpur, Agra, Pune, Ahmedabad, Bhopal, Jaipur, Surat, Pondicherry, Bhubaneswar, Panaji, Patna, Kochi, Nagpur, and Guwahati.

This emphasizes the need to share information and learn from experiences across the world and between cities.