Across the United States, cities are acting as climate first responders - carrying climate action forward even as national politics grow more hostile. From clean energy and buildings to transport, land use and resilience to extreme weather events, mayors are proving that climate leadership does not depend on federal permission. It grows from proximity: to people, to impacts, and to the places leaders are entrusted to protect. Cities are stepping in to safeguard neighbourhoods, rivers, urban ecosystems and public health, often while the federal government undermines climate policy or attacks local authority.

Featured guests:

Keith Wilson, Mayor of Portland, Oregon, USA

Kirk Watson, Mayor of Austin, Texas, USA

Juliet Oluoch, Research fellow at Ustawi Analytica and youth climate activist from Nairobi, Kenya

Links:

Solved: How the World’s Great Cities Are Fixing the Climate Crisis by David Miller

The Fate of the Inflation Reduction Act in the Second Era of Trump - Cities 1.5

Trump signs order to withdraw US from Paris climate agreement for second time - The Guardian

‘Poet, writer, wife, mom’: who was Renee Nicole Good, the woman killed by an ICE agent? - The Guardian

Mayor Keith Wilson Announces Portland Has Reached more than 1,500 Emergency Overnight Beds, Delivered at Unprecedented Speed - Portland.gov

Costumed protesters in Portland defy description of the city as a 'war zone' - NBC News

Austin Climate Equity Plan

$3,000 grants offered to groups addressing climate change and food access challenges - Austin Monitor

More links for this episode available at jccpe.utpjournals.press and c40.org.

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website at https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Listen to the Cities 1.5 five-part miniseries “Going Steady with Herman Daly: How to Unbreak the Economy (and the Planet)" here: https://lnk.to/HDMiniSeries

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and the C40 Centre, and is supported by C40 Cities. Sign up to the Centre newsletter: https://thecentre.substack.com/

Writing and executive production by Peggy Whitfield.

Narrative and communications support by Chiara Morfeo.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

In times of profound geopolitical turbulence - wars, trade shocks, energy insecurity, and climate breakdown - something unexpected is happening: while autocratic leaders double down on fossil fuels and climate denial, cities are stepping into the breach to create a different story. One of hope, resilience, and innovation.

Like wildflowers pushing through concrete, cities around the world are experimenting with new economic models that challenge the old orthodoxy of endless growth. They're turning away from Gross Domestic Product (GDP) as the sole measure of success and asking different questions: Are people housed? Are they thriving? Are we staying within planetary limits?

Featured guests:

Kate Raworth, Co-founder of the Doughnut Economics Action Lab (DEAL)

Leonora Grcheva, Cities and Regions Lead at DEAL

Giuseppe Sala, Mayor of Milan, Italy

Nkosindiphile Xhakaza, Executive Mayor of Tshwane, South Africa

Carola Schouten, Mayor of Rotterdam, Netherlands

Links:

Doughnut Economics in Local Governments: An Overview of Emerging Practice by Leonora Grcheva and Michele Vianello

Special Issue on Sustainable Prosperity in the 21st-Century City - the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy

Trump fossil-fuel push setting back green progress decades, critics warn - The Guardian

Resources for a better future: GDP - Resilience.org

Milan's Food Waste Hubs Network

Compilation of the Integrated Waste Management Plan for the City of Ekurhuleni Metropolitan Municipality

CCU Challenge: Unlock the City’s Ambition of Becoming Fully Circular by 2050

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website at https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Listen to the Cities 1.5 five-part miniseries “Going Steady with Herman Daly: How to Unbreak the Economy (and the Planet)" here: https://lnk.to/HDMiniSeries

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and the C40 Centre, and is supported by C40 Cities. Sign up to the Centre newsletter: https://thecentre.substack.com/

Writing and executive production by Peggy Whitfield.

Narrative and communications support by Chiara Morfeo.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/

As geopolitical power shifts, cities are rising to lead this urban century while nations cling to outdated systems. Season 6 of Cities 1.5 explores how mayors and urban leaders from around the world are turning uncertainty into opportunity, building regenerative futures with hope-filled narratives that counter disinformation and inspire action.

Join us from January 13, 2026, as we explore the urban transformation the world cannot wait for, ranging from tackling disinformation, decarbonising infrastructure, and confronting the growing alliance between political authoritarianism and the fossil fuel industry. Through intimate conversations with global mayors and urban innovators, we reveal how cities are not just adapting to change…but are actively shaping our future.

Because the future isn't waiting, and neither are cities.

Links:

Zohran Mamdani’s full victory speech, 4 November 2025 - Zohran Mamdani for NYC YouTube channel

If you want to learn more about the Journal of City Climate Policy and Economy, please visit our website at https://jccpe.utpjournals.press/

Listen to the Cities 1.5 five-part miniseries “Going Steady with Herman Daly: How to Unbreak the Economy (and the Planet)" here: https://lnk.to/HDMiniSeries

Cities 1.5 is produced by the University of Toronto Press and the C40 Centre, and is supported by C40 Cities. Sign up to the Centre newsletter: https://thecentre.substack.com/

Writing and executive production by Peggy Whitfield.

Narrative and communications support by Chiara Morfeo.

Produced by Jess Schmidt: https://jessdoespodcasting.com/

Edited by Morgane Chambrin: https://www.morganechambrin.com/

Music by Lorna Gilfedder: https://origamipodcastservices.com/