ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the framework for a more comprehensive accounting of cities' environmental performance within a commitment to other sustainable development goals. The discussion of sustainable development in regard to cities has also gained greater official recognition. A growing number of cities have local authorities who have committed themselves to sustainable development goals – as in the European Campaign of Sustainable Cities and Towns – and have shown a greater willingness to share knowledge and experiences with other city authorities. Governments in the world’s wealthiest nations can also support the notion of ‘sustainable cities’ without admitting that it is consumers and enterprises in their cities that need to make the largest reductions in resource use and waste generation. The fact that ‘the South’ includes three-quarters of the world’s population and a large and growing share of its economic activity and high-level consumers also means a large and growing share in global resource use, waste generation and greenhouse gas emissions.
