The C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group’s Climate Positive Development Program was launched in May 2009 in partnership with the Clinton Climate Initiative and the U.S. Green Building Council. The program brings together district-scale new-build and regeneration projects working to achieve "Climate Positive" (net carbon negative) outcomes in cities worldwide. As part of C40’s Sustainable Communities Initiative, it aims to create a model for large-scale urban communities and to support projects that serve as urban laboratories for cities seeking to grow in ways that are environmentally sustainable, climate resilient, and economically viable. Climate Positive is an exclusive program with a competitive application process and currently comprises 17 global projects that will collectively reduce the emissions impact of more than one million people. The cities hosting these projects support local implementation and share best practices globally through the C40 Climate Positive Network. The projects are in different stages of development but share key characteristics such as high density, highly efficient buildings, mixed-use zoning, and transit accessibility. Climate Positive was developed by the Green Building Council and launched at the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group summit in Seoul, South Korea, in May 2009. At launch, Climate Positive had 16 founding projects on six continents, supported by local governments and property developers. In October 2012, Copenhagen’s Nordhavn project joined the program, and in São Paulo, Odebrecht’s Parque da Cidade (Park of the City) formally launched with a large kickoff event, bringing the total number of projects to 17. The current projects are located in Melbourne and Sydney, Australia; Palhoça and São Paulo, Brazil; Toronto, Ontario, Canada; Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; Copenhagen, Denmark; Ahmedabad and Jaipur, India; Pretoria, South Africa; Seoul, South Korea; Stockholm, Sweden; London, the United Kingdom; and Oberlin, Portland, and San Francisco, the United States. Objectives:
With the primary objective of building Climate Positive (operational net carbon-negative) districts in cities, the Climate Positive Development Program attempts to change the paradigm of district-scale development through three main activities: recognizing exemplary achievement; sharing best practices and challenges experienced among development partners; and facilitating the broader implementation in cities of scalable projects, policies, and programs with low carbon emissions.

Leadership:
In April 2013 it was announced that the Mayor of São Paulo, Fernando Haddad, and the Mayor of Stockholm, Sten Nordin would share the chairmanship of Climate Positive and together lead the network, due to their leadership and commitment to finding replicable city-scale solutions to address climate change.

How it Works:
Each Climate Positive Development project has a unique profile determined by its distinct economic, political, and climate challenges; however, every project aims to lower its operational greenhouse gas emissions to below zero. Moreover, development partners across the 18 projects are expected to focus on reducing operational carbon emissions at the district scale from the transportation, energy, and waste sectors, and are required to share the solutions they develop. The program also provides technical and logistical support by hosting learning programs and webinars, convening private-sector firms to produce tools and templates for project use, increasing project visibility through various media channels, and granting access to technical experts and other partners within the Climate Positive and C40 networks. To become Climate Positive and achieve net carbon-negative outcomes, development partners earn Climate Positive Credits by sequestering emissions on-site and abating emissions in surrounding communities. There are many paths to the Climate Positive outcome of net-negative operational GHG emissions; each project will use a different set of strategies and technologies according to local opportunities, guided by the Climate Positive Development Framework, which outlines the four stages of becoming Climate Positive. As projects move through the four recognition stages — Climate Positive Candidate, Climate Positive Participant, Progress Site, and, at completion, Climate Positive certification — development partners submit documentation to the program to ensure they remain on track and receive feedback from program staff and affiliated technical experts. Projects:
- Victoria Harbour, Melbourne, Australia
- Barangaroo, Sydney, Australia
- Parque da Cidade, São Paulo, Brazil
- Pedra Branca Sustainable Urbanism, Palhoça, Greater Florianópolis, Brazil
- Dockside Green, Victoria, BC, Canada
- Waterfront Toronto (Lower Don Lands), Toronto, ON, Canada
- Nordhavn, Copenhagen, Denmark
- ProjectZero, Sonderborg, Denmark
- Godrej Garden City, Ahmedabad, India
- Mahindra World City, Jaipur, India
- Menlyn Maine, Pretoria, South Africa
- Magok Urban Development Project, Seoul, South Korea
- Stockholm Royal Seaport, Stockholm, Sweden
- Elephant & Castle, London, UK
- Treasure Island Development Project, San Francisco, CA, USA
- The Oberlin Project, Oberlin, OH, USA
- South Waterfront EcoDistricts, Portland, OR, USA
- The Shinagawa Project, Tokyo, Japan

See also:
- C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group
- Adaptation to global warming
- Climate change mitigation
- Covenant of Mayors
- Energy conservation
- Global Energy Basel
- ICLEI - Local Governments for Sustainability
- Individual and political action on climate change
- London Climate Change Agency
- PlaNYC
- Renewable energy
- World energy resources and consumption
- World's largest cities

External links:
- climatepositivedevelopment.org
- Cities Go Climate Positive
- C40 Cities official website
- Clinton Climate Initiative
- Environmental organizations based in the United States