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
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
Tackling the climate emergency – a security, socioeconomic and environmental crisis – requires the unprecedented transformation of energy systems and an immediate transition to renewable energy across all sectors. For a perspective on why cities and regions are going renewable and what a roadmap to 100% renewables looks like at the subnational level, we talked
Motorcycle taxis, known as boda-bodas, are a common sight in East Africa. While they serve as an accessible transport option for many urban residents, they also pose serious safety concerns and management challenges. However, new ideas and technologies have the potential to make boda-bodas a part of sustainable mobility systems in African cities. Boda-bodas operate
Although they pave the way for national and international financial support, sophisticated emissions inventories are often the domain of the richest and most powerful cities. In other words, strong inventories often come from those with the resources to hire staff or pay third-party consultants to prepare those inventories. This perpetuates a difficult cycle: national and
To accelerate climate action and to protect residents from the negative impacts of climate change, the City of Hiroshima, Japan has set an ambitious long-term goal to cut emissions, while identifying ways to better prepare for intensifying climate risks. The city recently released a new climate action and adaptation plan which explains exactly how they
By John J. Berger, PhD, an energy and environmental policy specialist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, who is currently working on a new book on resolving the climate crisis. — The City of Rotterdam has an abiding interest in cost-effective ways of reducing its greenhouse gas emissions. One of its main strategies is
By John J. Berger, PhD, an energy and environmental policy specialist based in the San Francisco Bay Area, who is currently working on a new book on resolving the climate crisis. — Finding ways to reduce cities’ greenhouse gas emissions (GHGs) is vital to global efforts to mitigate climate change. Cities account for around 70
Dear ICLEI Friends and Colleagues, Cities around the world have a crucial role in the transition to sustainable consumption and production by using sustainable public procurement (SPP) as a key tool. By introducing sustainable criteria in our purchases, local and regional governments are making our societies more sustainable, while at the same time ensuring social
By Mark Watts, Executive Director, C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group & Gino Van Begin, Secretary General, ICLEI – Local Governments for Sustainability When UN Secretary-General Special Envoy for Cities and Climate Change Michael R. Bloomberg suggested creating a Compact of Mayors to mirror the UN programme for national commitments on climate change, it was not