"Cities are increasingly integrating climate adaptation priorities into development policies and plans. However, there remains a gap in understanding how incremental urban adaptation solutions can lead to more transformative change over the long term. Transformative adaptation reorients urban climate actions around addressing entrenched equity and climate justice challenges. It focuses on systemic changes to development processes that improve people’s quality of life, enhance the social and economic vibrancy of cities, and ensure sustainable, resilient, and inclusive urban futures. This paper systematically reviews literature and case studies across the global North and South to assess the barriers and enablers to transformative climate adaptation, focusing on examples and evidence from a wide range of cities."
Category: Cities and climate change
Integration of shared mobility approaches in Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning
This document provides guidance on a specific topic related to Sustainable Urban Mobility Planning (SUMP). It is based on the concept of SUMP, as outlined by the European Commission’s Urban Mobility Package1 and described in detail in the European SUMP Guidelines (second edition).
Numerous sharing concepts have emerged in recent years, which have been developing dynamically ever since. Some sharing concepts – esp. station-based car sharing – address alternatives to car ownership in order to reduce the space consumption, but others serve rather as an additional mobility option to get around: free floating car sharing and public bike rental systems, newer phenomena in the form of e-Scooter sharing and e-Moped sharing, on-demand mobility concepts (ride hailing and ride sharing) as well as the shared transport of goods (freight transport). The following brochure concentrates in particular on sharing services and the starting points for municipalities within a SUMP. It shows the steps in sustainable urban mobility planning when particular planning aspects must be taken into account while integrating sharing modes.
The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development,
In 2016, Member States decided that the report should be produced once every four years, to inform the quadrennial SDG review deliberations at the General Assembly, and that it should be written by an Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the Secretary-General. They mandated that the Group would consist of 15 experts representing a variety of backgrounds, scientific disciplines and institutions, ensuring geographical and gender balance.
The Future is Now: Science for Achieving Sustainable Development, is the first Global Sustainable Development Report prepared by the Independent Group of Scientists appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General. It does not produce new evidence; rather it capitalizes on existing knowledge across disciplines, through an “assessment of assessments”. It highlights state-of-the-art knowledge for transformations towards sustainable development and identifies concrete areas where rapid, transformational change is possible. The Report is not only a product but also a process for advancing collaboration among actors in science, Government, the private sector and civil society in all regions of the world towards identifying and realizing concrete pathways for transformation driven by evidence.
Adapt Now: A Global Call for Leadership on Climate Resilience
The report puts forward a bold vision for how to transform key economics systems, making them more resilient and productive. The Commission finds that climate adaptation can produce significant economic returns: the overall rate of return on investments in improved resilience is high, with benefit-cost ratios ranging from 2:1 to 10:1, and in some cases even higher.
The analysis specifically finds that investing $1.8 trillion globally in five areas from 2020 to 2030 could generate $7.1 trillion in total net benefits. The five areas of climate adaptation the report considers are: early warning systems, climate-resilient infrastructure, improved dryland agriculture, mangrove protection, and investments in making water resources more resilient. These represent just a portion of the total investments needed and total benefits available.
Recent events have shown that climate change affects people everywhere. Furthermore, without action, millions of people will be pushed further into poverty, leading to increased conflict and instability.
Climate Proofing Urban Development
Almost 30 local practitioners from 12 cities, 10 countries and four continents accepted the invitation of Connective Cities and the city of Dortmund to a dialogue event on the topic of “Climate proofing urban development”, which took place from 3 to 5 September 2019 in Dortmund, Germany.
Climate change and the effects of more frequent climate impacts and extreme weather events such as heavy rainfall, severe thunderstorms, storms, prolonged droughts and heat waves are posing major challenges for cities around the world. In addition, climate change is a cross-cutting issue that affects all areas and departments of a city administration and therefore requires a cross-departmental approach.
Starting with an exchange of experiences on good practices and projects in the cities, implementation challenges were identified and eventually the participants developed six project ideas for six cities, which could lead to an improvement of the respective strategies and implementation plans.
The event concluded with an excursion to Lake Phoenix – a mega-project of the city of Dortmund to transform an industrial wasteland into a new vibrant area providing new housing, workplaces and recreation opportunities around an artificial lake. The transformation of the area also had positive effects on the climate of the area contributing to local climate adaptation.
Climate Protection and Air Pollution Control
Many air pollution control measures also help to protect the climate and vice versa. It is essential to use the synergies for environment and health.
The publication presents examples of various strategies and measures for clean air in municipalities and provides ideas on how these two areas can be interlinked.
Resilient Cities, Resilient Lives
“The world is more densely populated and more interconnected than ever before. From extreme weather to refugee crises, from disease pandemics to cyberattacks, today’s state of play requires new models of governance to mitigate risk and respond to challenges. Business-as-usual models of reactive planning and siloed decision-making will not generate the fundamental strength and flexibility essential for us to thrive in the face of the shocks and stresses of the 21st century. […] The launch of 100 Resilient Cities program (100RC) by the Rockefeller Foundation acknowledged that the escalating trends of urbanization, globaliza- tion, and climate change pose tremendous risks, but also offer a tremendous opportunity. This report shares 100RC’s knowledge about what it takes to catalyze an urban resilience movement.”
Heatwave Guide for Cities
"Heatwaves are deadly and their impacts are on the rise globally due to climate change. People living in urban areas are amongst the hardest hit when a heatwave occurs because these are hotter than the surrounding countryside. Along with climate change, urbanization is one of the most transformative trends of this century and the last. Over half the world now lives in urban areas and this is projected to increase to two-thirds by 2050. It is crucial that cities incorporate heat-reduction tactics such as green spaces into their plans for growth or retrofit them in built areas. […] This practical guide is designed with, and for, people working in city government to understand, reduce the risk of, and respond to, heatwaves in their cities."
The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5°C World
New ways of measuring the climate footprint of cities show that urban consumption is a key driver of global GHG emissions. Cities therefore have a responsibility to significantly reduce their GHG emissions. This work has mostly focused on transport, buildings, energy and waste. This report assesses the impact of urban consumption on climate breakdown and explores the type and scale of changes needed to ensure that cities reduce their GHG emissions in line with internationally agreed, climate-safe limits.
The Future of Urban Consumption in a 1.5°C World
New ways of measuring the climate footprint of cities show that urban consumption is a key driver of global GHG emissions. Cities therefore have a responsibility to significantly reduce their GHG emissions. This work has mostly focused on transport, buildings, energy and waste. This report assesses the impact of urban consumption on climate breakdown and explores the type and scale of changes needed to ensure that cities reduce their GHG emissions in line with internationally agreed, climate-safe limits.