The World Bank is wielding its biggest weapon in combating urban emissions: Data.

World Bank President Robert Zoellick announced this morning that the group would be officially partnered with C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group headed by New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg. A data-aggregation master, the World Bank will give the C40 group critical help in collecting data from its member cities and providing a sense of uniformity to the collection of international members.

Bloomberg particularly emphasized the importance of data aggregation in the release of two reports on carbon emissions of cities.

“I firmly believe that if you can’t measure it, you can’t manage it,” he said. “That is true in business and its true in government.” The partnership will also help the C40 group access much-needed funding for its programs.

“This unique partnership with the World Bank will help solve many of the problems that cities face in obtaining financing for climate-related projects, both from the World Bank and other lenders,” Bloomberg said.

According to a statement by the World Bank, the partnership will provide C40 with:

1. “A consistent approach to climate action plans and strategies in large cities to enable stronger partnerships between cities on shared climate goals, and to permit potential investors to identify opportunities across cities. The lack of a standard approach or process – such as exists for national government action plans – has made it difficult for investors and grantors to assess city action plans and thus has made them reluctant to fund projects.

2. “A common approach to measuring and reporting on city greenhouse gas emissions to allow verifiable and consistent monitoring of emissions reductions, identify actions that result in the greatest emission reductions, and facilitate access to carbon finance. This is necessary because carbon finance requires quantitative assessments of impacts, but currently no single standard for reporting citywide carbon emissions exists; the Carbon Disclosure Project’s Measurement for Management report identified several different protocols in use by C40 cities, with no single protocol used by a majority.”

By December 1, 2011, the Bank will also establish a portal for C40 cities with access to various program ideas and technical assistance on climate change initiatives.

“This will assist city government – who often do not have the familiarity with the World Bank programs that their national government counterparts have – to know what World Bank resources exist and how to tap them,” the World Bank said.

Former President Bill Clinton, whose Climate Change Initiative is co-hosting the summit and recently announced an alliance with the C40 Group, added: “Our partnership with the World Bank will provide essential tools to help cities become more sustainable, grow their economies, create jobs, promote energy independence, and ensure a stable future for generations to come.”

The C40 Group, a partnership of mayors from across the globe that are interested in mitigating the effects of climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, is holding its annual Summit in Sao Paulo this week.

Find the full text of World Bank President Zoellick’s speech announcing the partnership here.

Picture: World Bank President Robert Zoellick