Ambitious cities like London, New York and Oslo are taking on climate budgets. It requires something, just as Sadiq Khan and Eric Adams advocate, that a lot of cities crave: to take emissions management to the balance sheet.
But how prepared are cities for climate budgets? Most already struggle with the green transition. Climate officers track hundreds of projects, stakeholders and inadequate data – and deal with immense pressure. Managing city-wide decarbonisation is more like scaling a mountain than sitting at a desk.