The crucial role of local governments in South Korea’s bold actions towards carbon neutrality by 2050

On 5 June 2020, World Environment Day, 226 local governments in South Korea gathered at the national assembly to declare a climate emergency. One month later, on 7 July 2020, 80 sub-national governments (17 provincial and 63 local governments) launched the Korean Local Governments’ Action Alliance for Carbon-Neutrality and urged nation-wide action for carbon neutrality 

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Daring Cities closing balances bold initiatives with challenges that lie ahead

Inspiring city initiatives in the fight against climate change have sprung up around the world, from the conversion of former landfill sites into wetlands in Buenos Aires, to Delhi closing its most polluting power plant, to Guangzhou electrifying its entire bus network. At the same time, questions linger over why cities like Lagos or Dakar 

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Cities rally around nature in the quest to become more resilient

In Montreal, they’re building Canada’s largest urban park. Once complete, the 8,000-hectare nature sanctuary will be eight times as large as New York’s Central Park.  In Bonn, green roofs are now mandatory for any surface larger than 200 square metres.  And 100 cities across Europe are currently involved in over 1,000 nature-based best practice solutions 

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In response to COVID-19, cities focus on nature and innovation to ensure a green recovery

“We are now facing two global crises, the COVID-19 pandemic and climate change. Post-COVID-19 recovery should not mark the return to a conventional society, but rather, the shift to a more sustainable and resilient society by redesigning our socio-economic system.” This was the opening statement from H.E. Koizumi Shinjiro, the Minister of Environment of Japan 

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Methods and myths of sustainable development

Sustainable isn’t attainable when it comes to urban development and growth. Or at least that’s the prevailing perception many naysayers have, said Carolina Schmidt, Chile’s Minister of Environment  during the recent TEDxDaringCities session entitled: Embedding Climate Neutrality Ambition Through Sustainable Development.  Citing figures from the World Bank, Schmidt said that investing $40 billion USD in 

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With goal of becoming world’s first climate resilient country, Dominica inspires cities to better prepare for extreme weather conditions

Three years ago, the Caribbean island of Dominica was battered by Hurricane Maria’s winds of up to 250 km. Now, the island nation has announced plans to become the world’s first climate resilient country by 2030.  In the wake of that announcement, Dominica spokesperson Francine Baron took time to expand on the drive behind her 

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TEDxDaringCities opening showcases real local action while imagining a zero carbon future

The climate emergency is happening right now, in our cities, towns and regions around the world. But what if we have all the solutions and political will we need already within our grasp? The global initiative Countdown, a unique collaboration powered by TED and Future Stewards, and supported by a huge array of partners, including 

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Three decades of local action towards urban sustainability: ICLEI at 30

On September 5, 1990, local government officials representing 200 cities from 43 nations gathered at the United Nations in New York. These mayors, council persons, and city staff from locales as distant from each other as the United States, Ivory Coast, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Finland and the Soviet Union, brought with them the resolve that, 

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A blueprint to enhance United Nations collaboration with local and regional governments

The United Nations is celebrating its 75th anniversary in 2020, under the shadows of a once-in-a-century pandemic, serious challenges to multilateralism, and life-threatening climate and biodiversity emergencies. Due to the global pandemic, these celebrations will be taking place online, but the virtual forum by no means reduces the significance of processes and decisions that will 

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Pittsburgh’s fight for clean air, water and growth

Pittsburgh has become the poster child for how to transition from highly impacted industrial town to a healthy and vibrant community. A city that has gone from having air quality and smog so bad that they had to leave the streetlights on 24 hours a day, to an area that has created more cleantech and 

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