Daily Junction.mobi portal<p>The prize is bigger than any one city. Our modelling shows that if the C40 cities – home to 920 million people – jointly required all new car sales to be electric by 2030, they would <a href="https://www.c40knowledgehub.org/s/article/Accelerating-urban-climate-action-A-city-guide-to-creating-positive-tipping-points?language=en_US">bring forward national tipping points in major markets by up to nine months</a>. Britain’s cities, acting together with the government behind them, could do the same for the UK.</p>
<p>Burnham described his new government as a circuit breaker, but tipping points may be a better metaphor – making modest interventions at the right moments to set off self-reinforcing change. He has spent nine years lining up the dominoes in one city region. As prime minister, he can tip them across the whole country.<!-- Below is The Conversation's page counter tag. Please DO NOT REMOVE. --><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/288310/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade" /><!-- End of code. If you don't see any code above, please get new code from the Advanced tab after you click the republish button. The page counter does not collect any personal data. More info: https://theconversation.com/republishing-guidelines --></p>
<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/steven-r-smith-1428038">Steven R. Smith</a>, Research Impact Fellow, Green Futures Solutions and Global Systems Institute, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-exeter-1190">University of Exeter</a></em> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/cormac-lynch-2743222">Cormac Lynch</a>, Impact Fellow, Social Scientist, Climate Policy Design, <em><a href="https://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-exeter-1190">University of Exeter</a></em></span></p>
<p>This article is republished from <a href="https://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/as-mayor-andy-burnhams-climate-record-was-strong-this-city-knowledge-is-key-to-decarbonising-the-uk-288310">original article</a>.</p> </div>