Cities 1.5

The winds of change are blowing through the world’s maritime hubs…despite some national governments’ efforts to the contrary. While the shipping industry carries 90% of global trade, it also leaves a heavy carbon trail in its wake. In this episode of Cities 1.5, we explore the high-stakes transformation of our global ports: once seen as industrial hotspots of pollution, these urban harbours are em...

From fossil fuel lobbying to coordinated political disinformation campaigns, vested interests have built a profitable disinformation infrastructure designed to spread confusion, polarize debate, and exhaust the public. The good news is that the world is waking up. For the first time in the history of the COP, a Declaration on Information Integrity was agreed upon, with governments committing to ad...

As our lives become increasingly digital, the infrastructure powering them is sparking a global debate: we need data centres, but at what cost to the climate and our access to energy? These massive facilities are the backbone of everything from streaming to AI, yet they consume staggering amounts of electricity and water, often straining local grids and and in some cases, threatening to derail dec...

 Ready for a ride? In this episode, we’re celebrating the inaugural World Public Transport Day , created by the International Association of Public Transport (UITP), along with its global partners, and we explore why public transport is the beating heart of our cities. From the "rolling focus groups" on Melbourne’s iconic trams to the colorful jeepneys of the Philippines, we share person...

Cities aren’t just structures. They’re people. In the rapidly urbanising cities of the global majority, many of those people are migrant workers.  They often work informally, with limited protection when shocks hit. At the same time, they are vital to propping up and rebuilding cities after climate disasters. In this week’s Cities 1.5 podcast episode, host David Miller speaks to Ritwika Basu, an e...

In this episode of Cities 1.5, we bring you another "Tale of Two Cities" - but this time, David sits down with two pioneering mayors from opposite ends of the globe. Despite their vastly different histories, both Athens are Melbourne are inspiring and leading the way through the climate crisis, and mitigating its impacts. We explore Athens is embracing progressive economics and tackling...

What links the Paris Agreement, Barbie and Arnold Schwarzenegger? The answer is this week’s guest on Cities 1.5! As a key architect of the Paris Agreement, Catherine McKenna - Canada’s former Minister for Climate Change and the Environment - reflects on why cities are now the true engines of delivery. There’s also a powerful exploration of Catherine’s new memoir, Run Like a Girl , and a firsthand...

In a world where climate emergencies are being declared daily, why do so many of our city streets and public transport networks have misleading ads for the very industries driving the crisis? Our conversation with two C40 experts reveals how the fossil fuel industry mirrors old tobacco industry tactics using sophisticated techniques to "greenwash" their image and frame essential health p...

Hot Take: the climate crisis isn’t some abstract data point or a dry policy debate, it’s a deeply human story of survival. Right now, a whole generation is growing up inside the emergency, doing the heavy lifting to fix a mess they didn't create. We’re bringing you the raw, human heartbeat of the movement and amplifying the voices that stole the show at the World Mayor’s Summit in Rio. The C4...

What would you risk to tell the truth, if the institution you served was one of the most powerful corporations on Earth? Early scientific warnings about global heating have long stood in tension with corporate narratives shaping public understanding. This episode examines the enduring disinformation created and disseminated by the fossil fuel industry: how it evolves, why it persists, and what it...

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 lead...

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 exper...

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 urba...

 In the face of the accelerating climate crisis, rising authoritarianism, and geopolitical shifts, national governments are faltering…but cities are stepping into the void and taking the lead.  Season 6 of Cities 1.5 will delve into how municipal-level actions and powerful coalitions are creating a carbon-free future, promoting resilience, and enabling a new economic system based on wellbeing over...

Welcome to Cities 1.5 Hot Takes: Dispatches from the Frontlines of the Climate Crisis . Hot Takes brings you fast, focused coverage on breaking news and underserved stories at the intersection of climate, economics and public health - all through an urban lens.  This first-ever edition of Hot Takes is about a major move in Canada’s energy future…and what it means for climate, cities, and the promi...

In the first episode of our two-part World Mayors Summit special, we heard from mayors around the world about the power of convenings like the Summit to unite city leaders and spark collaboration. In this second episode, we explore what that collaboration looks like in practice, from new approaches to urban planning and the challenge of energy-hungry data centres, to fossil-free trucks and greener...

In this first instalment of our two-part special from the C40 World Mayors Summit, Cities 1.5 takes you inside the flagship gathering of the world’s most ambitious urban climate leaders. We hear directly from mayors as they unveil this year’s Offer of Action – a unified commitment that raises the stakes for urban climate leadership and pointedly challenges national governments to match their ambit...

Cities 1.5 is back with a special two-part series focused on the C40 World Mayor's Summit in Rio de Janeiro, convening just ahead of the upcoming COP30 in Brazil. City mayors are continuing to play a critical role in combating climate change as they implement substantial climate policies and actions amidst the inaction of national governments. Tune in to hear behind-the-scenes discussions wit...

We’re joining podcasts around the world in tandem with the 80th United Nations General Assembly, to ask a vital question: where do we find hope in challenging times? We explore how cities are implementing Herman Daly’s revolutionary economic theories. Featured in this episode: Karen Daly Junker, Herman and Marcia’s youngest daughter Terri Daly Stewart, Herman and Marcia’s eldest daughter Denis Dal...

We follow Herman Daly into one of the last places you’d expect to find a rebel economist: the World Bank. We will hear how the academic work of Herman’s sister, Denis Daly Heyck, impacted on his worldview. We’ll also see how this fused with Herman’s own experiences teaching in Brazil, and the building of pan-American ecological and human rights movements to fuel him to advocate for policy and phil...

We rejoin Herman Daly in the  late 1970s - a tumultuous time for our renegade economist.  Partnering with theologian John Cobb Jr., Daly began to rebuild economics from the ground up, reframing it around values, community, and the planet that sustains us. Woven through this intellectual journey are stories of faith, family, and friendship that helped Daly persevere. We hear how he sparked a global...

We follow Herman from the lecture halls of Louisiana to the forests of Brazil – and through a period of global upheaval and personal transformation. Herman was profoundly shaped by the realities of inequality and ecological fragility in the Global South. These experiences helped crystallize his vision of a steady-state economy; one that operates within the planet’s ecological limits and prioritize...

Herman Daly was a founding father of ecological economics: more than half a century ago, he warned that the pursuit of endless economic growth was driving ecological collapse and harming society, as well as harming society - and came up with a plan to unbreak our economy.  Dismissed by mainstream economists, pushed out of the World Bank, and even targeted by menacing, anonymous threats, Daly paid...

Is it time to retire the concept of growth as the sole measure of prosperity? This summer, join host David Miller for a special miniseries dedicated to Herman Daly, an economist who transformed how we think about growth. Featuring never heard before interviews with Daly himself alongside experts, scholars, and Herman’s nearest and dearest, this is a story you won’t want to miss! The first episode...

Herman Daly would have turned 87 years old on July 21st, 2025. While he is no longer with us, his ideas have lived on - shaping an economic future that we haven’t yet achieved, but is steadily becoming the most probable way forward in the face of rising temperatures, extreme weather events, and ecological and economic decimation. But who exactly was Herman Daly? Why was his work scorned by the Wor...