Did you know that over half the world’s population lives in urban areas? Perhaps you live in a city yourself and are growing ever more worried about the impacts of climate change you see on yourself and particularly on those with less who share the city with you. The Climate Urban Emergency Report goes on to say that “Nearly a billion urban residents live in slums without access to decent housing, clean drinking water or safe sanitation. Too many workers toil in unsafe conditions for less than a living wage.” Although these conditions may not be the result of climate change there is no doubt that climate change will exacerbate these hardships through the immediate impact of extreme weather events and their subsequent consequences like flooding, which can lead to the spread of infectious disease and loss of livelihood from destruction of crops and salination of land close to the ocean.
But, as the report states, “To hold global warming to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions need to nearly halve by 2030 from 2010 levels and reach net-zero around 2050. As the major centres of production and consumption, what happens in cities in the next decade will be critically important to countries everywhere. National decision-makers can help put cities on a path to prosperity and resilience, or to decline and vulnerability.”
What can you as a city resident do to help propel these changes, which the report shows “can be brought close to net-zero using proven technologies and practices”? Although it is true that state/provincial and national governments often play an outsized role in climate change mitigation decision making “Local governments have primary authority or influence over 28% [of the total abatement potential], including compact urban form, travel demand management and waste disposal. 37% of the identified mitigation potential depends on collaborative climate action among national, regional and local governments, including building codes, decentralised renewables and mass transit infrastructure”.
Although this report may look daunting the chapter on Priorities for National Actions is a good place to start. What actions can you encourage your local government to take to align with these suggested national priorities? This image is a good way to visualize the efforts needed to help move cities to the forefront of the climate change challenge and mitigation.
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