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The cities. How to save millions, stop climate change and improve public health.
The issue of global climate change cannot be tackled without tackling the challenge of urban planning. Cities contribute around 70% of energy-related greenhouse emissions, despite actually only constituting 2% of the planet's land surface.
Reducing that environmental impact can be seen as a practically daunting challenge, but a new report Better Growth, Better Climate Better Growth, Better Climate by Global Commission on the Economy and Climate addresses the problem of cities and their urban planning with the aim of reducing emissions in the long term, seeks the guidelines for sustainable and lasting economic growth while facing the risks of climate change with an important consequence, improvement of public health.
The next 15 years will be critical as the global economy undergoes a profound structural transformation. It will not be a "business" according to the usual methods. The global economy will grow by more than half, a billion people will move to cities, and rapid technological advances will continue to change businesses and lives.
It is estimated that about $ 90 billion will be invested in urban infrastructure, land and energy systems. How these changes are managed will determine future patterns of growth, productivity and standard of living, but … How can cities save millions?
"The report reveals that the largest cities in the world, together, could save around 3 Billion Dollars in infrastructure with a coherent approach in the next 15 years"
Future economic growth does not have to copy the high carbon and uneven distribution model of the past. Transformation, structural and technological change are based on three key economic systems:
The cities:
They are engines of economic growth. In them are generates about 80% of global economic production, and about 70% of global energy use and related greenhouse gas emissions. How the largest and fastest growing cities develop will be critical to the future of the global economy and climate. However, much of today's urban growth is not planned or structured, which translates into high economic, social and environmental costs.
Atlanta and Barcelona, similar population but different levels of carbon emissions:
Land use:
Its productivity will determine whether the world will be able to feed a population that is projected to grow to more than eight billion by 2030, while preserving the natural environment. It is possible to increase food production, protect forests and mitigate emissions from agricultural uses, increasing crop yields and livestock productivity, using new technologies and comprehensive approaches in land and water management. If just 12% of eroded land were restored, 200 million people could be fed by 2030.
The global distribution of food insecurity in 2012:
Power systems growth:
In all economies. We are on the cusp of the renewable energy of the future (More data fromReflections on energy: Towards a new systemto). Coal is riskier and more expensive than before, with increasing dependence on imports and an increase in air pollution. Skyrocketing costs, particularly from wind and solar power, could bring renewable resources and other low-carbon energies to more than half of all new generations of electricity in the next 15 years.
Indicative costs of photovoltaic solar electricity over time and estimated utility cost, compared to a global benchmark level for coal and natural gas:
Alongside these systems, three “drivers of change” should be harnessed to overcome institutional, market and policy barriers to low-carbon growth:
- Improve resource efficiency it is the core of both growth and emission reduction. (Fact: Subsidies for clean energy are around $ 100 billion, while subsidies for polluting fossil fuels are currently estimated at around $ 600 billion a year.)
- Investment in infrastructure supports modern economic growth.
- Stimulate innovation in technologies, business models and social practices can lead to growth and reduced emissions.
The report proposes a Global Action Plan of 10 key recommendations, in which the following are asked of political actors:
- 1. Accelerating the transformation to low carbon consumption by integrating climate into decision-making processes in the economic core. This is needed at all levels of government and business, through systematic changes towards policies and instruments for project evaluation, performance indicators, risk models and needs reports.
- 2. Join an international climate agreement, that is firm, durable and equitable. In order to build much-needed confidence for national rules reform, it provides the necessary support to developing countries and sends a strong market signal to investors.
- 3. Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies and agricultural inputs, and incentives for urban expansion, in order to lead to the more efficient use of resources and to free up public funds for other uses, including programs to favor those with lower incomes.
- 4. Introduce firm and predictable carbon prices, as part of a successful tax reform and sound economic practices, in order to send a powerful signal to the economy.
- 5. Substantially reduce capital costs for investment in low-carbon infrastructure, increasing access to institutional capital and lowering its costs for low carbon assets.
- 6. Increase innovation in technologies key low-carbon consumption and that support climate resilience, tripling public investment in renewable energy research and development and removing barriers to entrepreneurship and creativity.
- 7. Make cities more connected and compact become the preferred paradigm of urban development, through the use of programs that motivate the densest cities and prioritize investments in safe and efficient urban transit systems.
- 8. Halt deforestation of natural forests by 2030, by strengthening incentives for long-term investments and forest protection, as well as increasing international funds to five billion dollars per year, progressively related to performance.
- 9. Restore at least 500 million hectares of degraded forest and agricultural land by 2030 by strengthening rural incomes and food security.
- 10. Accelerate the shift away from polluting coal power generation, through the immediate phase-out of new coal plants in developed economies and in middle-income countries by 2025.
The implementation of the policies and investments proposed in this report could lead to the reduction of at least half of the emission reductions necessary by 2030 to reduce the risks of dangerous climate change.
Access to the reportBetter Growth, Better Climate (Note: The link has stopped working)
