Summary for Urban Policymakers

Using climate change science to shape urban policy, and the future of our cities

Resilience First is part of a unique collaboration that co-created the Summary for Urban Policymakers (SUP) series, presenting the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) AR6 Assessment Reports into accessible and targeted summaries that can help inform climate action at the city scale.

The SUP initiative was first announced at the Glasgow COP26 climate conference in 2021, where several of the world’s leading climate change scientists came together with city and business leaders, global NGOs and national governments to explain how the SUP initiative will develop a companion series, distilling international climate change science for the urban context, and to be authored by a group of these same scientists in collaboration with cities and businesses in every region around the globe.

The SUP convened IPCC report authors, acting in an independent capacity with local government officials, national governments and business leader members of Resilience First. This was achieved through a partnership led by Resilience Rising, with the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy's networks of cities, Resilience First, the Indian Institute for Human Settlements, the German Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Nuclear Safety (BMU) in collaboration with GIZ.

The three-report compendium was published on 11 November 2022 at COP27,  after a number of crucial global and regional dialogues across our six continents. 

The series is derived from the IPCC AR6 assessment reports, and uses the latest science to build understanding around the need and opportunity to deeply transform cities and urban areas to meet global climate goals and protect the world’s increasingly urban population. The following three volumes are now available for urban decision makers:

• Volume I – What the Latest Physical Science of Climate Change Means for Cities and Urban Areas
• Volume II – What the Latest Science on Impacts, Adaptation and Vulnerability Means for Cities and Urban Areas
• Volume III – What the Latest Science on Climate Change Mitigation Means for Cities and Urban Areas

Panmao Zhai, Co-Chair, Working Group I, IPCC said: “The IPCC's Working Group I Report unequivocally shows that human influence has exacerbated extreme events across all regions of the world. Cities and urban areas are a major source of emissions and facing higher risks as well as sites for climate action. The SUP Series synthesises this science for an urban policymaker audience.”

Following the launch of the three-volume report series, the Summary for Urban Policymakers released a stand-alone solutions-driven Action Agenda for city and business leaders. The report explicitly defines opportunities and investments needed to co-create solutions to the climate crisis.

If you would like to explore opportunities for collaboration and co-creation, please contact Beena Chester at bchester@resiliencefirst.co.uk