Blog

This blog was written by Rasmus Fredriksson, project manager, Environmental Department, City of Malmö Malmö is a coastal city with a 43-kilometer coastline. Proximity to the sea has always been a foundation for Malmö’s development. Historically the city has grown by building new industrial and port areas on land reclaimed from the Öresund, the Baltic 

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Marine Education Center (Marinpedagogiskt Center) is a newly completed building by the beach in Malmö. In the center, visitors from schools in the region of Skåne get the opportunity to experience the sea of Öresund, its exciting history and marine life. There they can also learn more about the Sustainability Development Goals of the Agenda 

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A big, new park in the Malmö area, Hyllie, focuses on stormwater, ecosystem services and social sustainability and is constantly evolving. The park is one of the City of Malmö’s many resilience projects, which was initiated in the green plan for Bo01, the world-famous European housing exposition in 2001. Hyllie – the Öresund regions most 

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As national and regional governments grapple to “keep 1.5°C alive” with updated Nationally Determined Contributions (NDC), science-based climate targets offer local governments a clear path towards effective climate mitigation. According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Sixth Assessment Report (working Group I) published in 2021, human-induced global warming will see temperatures surpass 2 

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Over thirty mayors and councillors from some of Australia’s most flood-damaged regions have called on the government to do more to protect communities from tragic and costly extreme weather. Mayors and councillors from Lismore in New South Wales to Logan in Queensland, released a joint statement responding to one of the worst extreme weather disasters 

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The concept of circular development has been gaining a lot of traction in the last few years for its potential to tackle global challenges like the climate crisis, biodiversity loss, and waste. Many cities are starting to explore and implement measures to move away from the linear “make-use-dispose” economy model, but some obstacles remain. We 

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Nature and its services are the greatest resources local and regional governments have to mitigate the current climate emergency and support a more resilient and sustainable urban future. That, in essence, was the silver thread of the second edition of the UNEA Cities and Regions Summit, held virtually on 23 February 2022. “We now have 

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Throughout 2022 to 2024, IHRB, ICLEI and other partners advance a research and action agenda on just transitions in the built environment, with deep-dives in specific contexts as well as international-level advocacy. This resulting blog is written by Annabel Short, Senior Advisor, Built Environment, IHRB, and Dr. Ying-Chih Deng-Sommer, Sustainable Built Environment Officer, ICLEI. As 

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(24 February 2022) The Association of German Cities (Deutscher Städtetag), the Global Parliament of Mayors and ICLEI have launched a urban alliance to accompany the German G7 Presidency. The alliance will support the G7 Presidency program, which has highlighted the importance of “harnessing the transformative power of cities.” Cities can offer immense contributions to the 

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In 2014, the city of Malmö experienced extreme precipitation, causing widespread damage and big financial losses. Now, the city is rethinking its approach to flood resilience and how this can be achieved together. A cloudburst is known as an extreme amount of rainfall in a short period of time. These occurrences may lead to massive 

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This blog was written by Braoin MacLauchlan and Matteo Bizzotto, with contributions by Einav Grinberg, Laura Noriega, Carla Marino, Maryke van Staden (ICEI World Secretariat) and George Bush (CDP).  A growing sense of urgency, propelled by the IPCC reports, COP26 discussions, and the need for real impact by 2030 mean climate policies have never been 

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This article is written by Anina Hartung and Dr. Nazmul Huq from the ICLEI Global Resilient Development Team. It should come to no surprise for anyone that COVID-19 has brought about unprecedented disparity to the fragile interconnected systems that make up our urban spaces, rendering them vulnerable to a host of challenges.  Additionally, while cities 

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In Öresund, beneath the surface of the sea, hides northern Europe’s largest mussel bed. This 75 square kilometer area is covered with millions of mussels. However, the most impressive part isn’t the size of the bed, it’s the fact that the mussels act as natural filtering organisms, keeping the Öresund sea clean. Mussels provide us 

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The construction sector accounts for more than 20% of Sweden’s total environmental impact. With the goal of being climate-neutral by 2030, Malmö is the first city in Sweden to have developed a local roadmap for a climate-neutral building and construction sector –LFM30.   Over the next 10–15 years, the City of Malmö plans to build 

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This post has been written as part of the UrbanShift project by Bhaskar Padigala, Karishma Asarpota, and Matteo Bizzotto. Among several critical themes discussed and negotiated by the world leaders at the recently concluded COP26, was the role of local and regional governments. This emerged as one of the main enabling factors required to keep 

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This blog was written by Karishma Asarpota, Jr. Officer, Climate & Energy Action, and Himanshu Raj, Officer, Sustainable Mobility  Global energy demand in the transport sector is on the rise due to the growing population and increased movement of people and goods. In 2018, the transport sector was responsible for 25 percent of direct CO2 

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Lisbon, Portugal (26 October 2021): Today, the Global Covenant of Mayors for Climate & Energy (GCoM), was awarded the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity along with 1M Euro to finance projects in Sub-Saharan Africa. The jury of the 2nd edition of the Gulbenkian Prize for Humanity selected GCoM from among 113 candidates from 48 different countries 

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Today’s food systems account for approximately one third of total GHG emissions, are a primary cause of environmental degradation, loss of biodiversity and significantly contribute to socio-economic and health inequalities. Concrete action points on food systems have so far been neglected at previous COP negotiations and when setting National Determined Contributions (NDCs). A much stronger 

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Cities are ready with robust climate action plans and ambitious targets that often outpace their national counterparts. What they need now is support from their national governments and financiers to turn their prioritized actions into resilience-building projects. Cities are hubs of innovation, and, especially in the smaller and medium-sized municipalities, local governments are agile and 

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The uneven distribution of climate impacts between the Global North and South is irrefutable. As the Global South mobilizes to build the resilience of its communities, their primary tool is knowledge – and lots of it. Held at the Multilevel Action Pavilion, the session Time4MultilevelAction Dialogues: Global South showcased the knowledge products and services less 

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Property owner Kungsleden AB holds an undeveloped plot of land in the Sofielund area of Malmö. An area until recently considered unsafe by residents and by those working there. While waiting for the plot to be developed, residents decided to look at how the space could be used temporarily to improve the health and well-being 

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The housing area of Sofielund has undergone a dramatic transformation. From pronounced social unrest and exclusion a decade ago, to a well kempt area with increased property ownership and happier residents. Sofielund is unrecognizable. The secret behind the change is a collaboration between the municipality, property owners and other stakeholders to increase the security and 

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While climate measures have sought to mitigate future climate change through reducing emission levels, efforts to adapt communities to harmful changes happening now have fallen short. Frustrated by the lethargy of national adaptation strategies, regions are employing all the tools in their power to build resilience.  On Adaptation, Loss and Damage day at COP26, regional 

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