Green Cities
A Tale of Three Cities: Municipal Environmental Policy Done Right
July 28, 2025
What can local communities do when environmental regulation falls short at the national level? A whole lot, it turns out. Picking up the government’s slack may seem like a lofty task, but many cities across the world are already proving that it’s possible. These success stories show how effective local advocacy can be, but also how it improves daily life.
Green Democracy
There is possibly no better example of how environmental policy improves human life than Barcelona, Spain. In 2017, the city began drafting its 2018-2030 Climate Action Plan, a policy roadmap set on transforming Barcelona into a carbon-neutral city by 2050. The plan’s scope expands beyond merely meeting Paris Agreement targets, however.
Barcelona’s plan was produced as a direct collaboration between its government and its citizens, built to serve all of its population, as climate change continues to impact lifestyles and livelihoods. Their plan was influenced by the findings of the 2016 Barcelona Health Survey, which found that more than 1 in 10 citizens were living in energy poverty, putting vulnerable populations such as children and the elderly at risk in the face of rising temperatures. At the heart of the city’s Climate Action Plan is environmental justice.
While Barcelona is slashing its greenhouse gas emissions, it is investing in upgrading its water and energy utilities. This effort starts in the homes of ordinary Barcelonans, which are being renovated at large-scale to add solar production, rainwater retention systems, and vegetation. By 2030, the city hopes to achieve zero energy poverty with 94,000 completed renovations.
In addition to home renovations, Barcelona is adding shade and cooling systems to public spaces such as parks, malls, and civic centers to transform them into climate shelters. As outlined by their Climate Action Plan, all Barcelonans will live within a ten-minute walk from the nearest climate shelter by 2030.
The Spanish city is not only doing its part to prevent the most severe outcomes of climate change, but it is also adapting by preparing its population to handle inevitable increases in temperature and unpredictable weather.
A City for the Future
Tokyo, Japan, is similarly striving to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change; however, its action plan looks different, fitting the needs of Japan’s localized climate.
In response to the persistent threat of typhoons in the region, the nation is preparing for a future characterized by severe weather type events. Across Tokyo, sewage systems and river management infrastructure are being revamped in order to handle higher flood levels and increased rainfall. Simpler measures are also being implemented, with floodgates being installed at metro stations and utility poles, at risk of collapse during storms, being removed.
These disaster mitigation efforts extend to heat waves too. Japan is fundamentally transforming its infrastructure to accommodate rising temperatures: reconstructing roads with heat-blocking pavements, renovating homes’ heat insulation, promoting urban greenery, and installing water misters in public areas.
The city’s adaptive measures are backed by robust policy set to manage and limit its emissions through future decades. Tokyo’s Zero Emission Strategy sets the city to achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2025. Planners of the strategy project that this emission reduction will be achieved through a variety of efforts, including investment in renewable and hydrogen-based technologies, expansion of zero-emission buildings, a transition to zero emission vehicles, and an increase in recycling rates.
Bringing New Life to Waste
Curitiba, nestled southwest of Rio de Janeiro and São Paulo, is taking on an innovative approach to its campaign against climate change.
A forerunner of public transit, Curitiba developed the world’s first-ever bus rapid transit system in 1974. Today, 80% of the city’s travellers use the bus system, reducing fuel demand by 35% and consequently reducing net emissions.
Curitiba’s bus rapid transit system also helps prop up other environmental programs, such as the Green Exchange. This initiative allows Curitibanos to collect trash in exchange for bus tokens or food, clearing streets of waste, reducing sanitation costs, and promoting interaction between citizens and government.
The cumulative outcome of these programs is a recycling rate of 70%, one of the highest in the world!
Acting Local: Why Should I?
Your local advocacy may not include rewriting building code or inventing a new form of public transit, and that’s ok. These three cities may all have big budgets and a wealth of political power, but at their core, their policy is driven by a belief that environmental policy and human well-being are deeply intertwined.
The stark reality of climate change is that it is changing all of our lives, regardless of where we live. When rising temperatures and changing weather patterns begin threatening the health of your neighbors, care for your community and environment become inseparable.
No matter what it looks like, true environmental advocacy produces a better world for us all. Jumping into local environmental action can be a daunting prospect, but it doesn’t have to be. Join our network of volunteers, and get connected to those working towards a common goal around you.
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