“Cities and climate change are deeply connected. On the one hand, cites are responsible for 75% of carbon dioxide emissions, but on the other, they have the leadership needed to tackle the global climate challenges we face.”
This was the opening declaration made by Urban Expert, Greg Clark, at yesterday’s Brussels Urban Summit, where the leaders of cities in Europe and across the world gathered to discuss how they can lead the urgent and radical action needed to combat climate change.
A dire climate emergency
According to the recently published ‘final warning’ report on the climate crisis from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), more than 3 billion people worldwide already live in areas that are highly vulnerable to climate breakdown.
In the face of such a dire emergency, key questions for discussion included: how can cities lead the response to this global crisis? and what are the radical actions that local leaders can take to achieve climate neutrality and prevent a climate disaster for future generations?
“Global system collapse”
In a powerful opening address to gathered European and international mayors, academics and officials, Leo Van Broeck, President of the Climate Expert Committee of the Brussels Capital Region, presented a radical, system wide solution to the global crisis.
Painting the situation in grave terms, he stressed that we are “living in a global system collapse.”
The whole ecosystem of our planet is undergoing a complete disaster
“Achieving climate neutrality by reducing of carbon in our atmosphere is just part of the problem,” said Van Broeck. “The whole ecosystem of our planet is undergoing a complete disaster, while politicians still talk about the importance of economic growth.”
He continued: “We must think about our planet as a complete system where water, air and land work together to give us food, moderate temperatures and flourishing wildlife. However, these self-reliant systems have disappeared. We have already killed off 85% of most animal species, we took 80% of fish out of the oceans, and we have aggressively conquered almost 85% of the fertile agricultural land.”
Cities are part of the solution for #ClimateChange.
The future will be made by public transport, low emission zones for air quality, plant our streets, rewild our parks, go for affordable housing, build a fair economy.
It is already happening. @leovanbroeck #BUS2023 pic.twitter.com/7se1w9OuPL
— Eurocities (@EUROCITIES) June 15, 2023
Van Broek explained that much of the damage is already done, and it will take hundreds of years for our planet to recover, but if we undertake a complete and urgent transformation of the current global economic system, further climate disaster can be avoided.
He stressed that cities have a key role to play in this action. “The problem is huge, but cities are part of the solution,” he said. “Let’s regenerate our cities with nature, planting trees in our streets and parks, going for affordable housing, ensuring people use sustainable public transport, making a circular economy and using city leadership to build a just future. We must be innovative and we must take action now.”
We face a dark future – but there is hope
Further evidence of the tough challenges that lie ahead was provided by leading journalist and author, Aitor Hernández-Morales, who led discussions on the importance of city leadership.
“We are headed towards a very dark new world,” he told the audience. “A three degree future where we are going to need to make drastic changes to the way we live, and many of those changes are going to happen in cities, which are going to be on the frontline of this crisis.”
Many of those changes are going to happen in cities, which are going to be on the frontline of this crisis
In efforts to tackle this crisis, city leaders are implementing ambitious plans to achieve climate targets.
Speaking to gathered delegates, Anne Hidalgo, Mayor of Paris, explained that she is overseeing a project to clean up pollution in the city’s River Seine. The immediate goal is to be able to use it for swimming events at next year’s Summer Olympics, but in the longer term, the objective is to also reclaim a blue space that residents will need as temperatures soar.
“It is estimated that by 2050, we might get temperatures of 50 degrees in Paris,” said Mayor Hidalgo. “The Seine is a part of our natural heritage and we want to clean it so people can swim in it and refresh themselves. The river has got cleaner and cleaner and we now have 30 different new types of fish.
“We also want to protect the Seine from industrial pollution, so we plan to give local authorities the legal powers to take action against those people who carry out infringements. In addition, we have worked closely with over 35,000 households and businesses who live near the river to ensure they stop pouring pollution into it.”
Thank you Mayor @Anne_Hidalgo for your very strong commitment to defend ambitious #Euro7 standards that we need to to guarantee better air quality in our cities!
The @Eurocities network is the right place to make sure that the voice of European mayors will be heard! pic.twitter.com/Dbpdf3su1M— André Sobczak (@andresobczak) June 15, 2023
Karin Wanngård, Mayor of Stockholm, explained that she has led the development of an innovative climate contract and budget, ensuring that climate action is at the centre of Stockholm’s vision for the future.
“We want to be a climate positive city by 2030,” she said. This will depend on how we can get rid of fossil fuels and change to electric cars. We also have innovative plans for a carbon capture and storage project, where we will capture and store all yearly emission in the city within a year.”
Wanngård stressed the need for cities to adopt strong climate commitments. “I know our goals are really high, but setting these clear climate goals will make cities aspire to do more,” she said. “Cities need to remain at the forefront, especially as more and more national governments backtrack.”
Kostas Bakoyannis, Mayor of Athens, has been leading plans to cope with the extreme heat and huge wildfires that threaten his city on a yearly basis. To address these challenges, the city has implemented an expansive heat-mitigation plan and the Double Regeneration project, a scheme to dramatically expand the city’s green spaces.
Every year in Athens, we break new records for extreme heat
“We found a space that is two kilometres from the city centre which is abandoned and neglected, he explained. “We are regenerating this area, creating big green spaces and a new football stadium. As a result of this work, we will also be able to demolish the old football stadium in the city centre and create new green space there too.”
Mayor Bakoyannis continued: “Every year in Athens, we break new records for extreme heat and we endure mega fires due to prolonged heat and drought. We have made a concerted effort to educate the local public that the steps we are taking are not just about climate change, they are about protecting public health for the future.”
Radical solutions to extreme problems
However, while city leaders are taking action to combat climate change, are these actions radical enough? In the final session of the climate debate, discussions turned to whether cities need to implement more radical solutions to reverse the emission curb.
Carolina Cosse, Mayor of the Uruguayan city of Montevideo, explained that her city has instigated a project to simultaneously improve the local environment, while taking steps to increase the health of local people. This has included innovative plans to tackle the cities major housing deficit, where the local government is buying land and offering it to local people for free.
“Following the Covid-19 crisis, we realised that public health and tackling climate change go hand in hand. We implemented an urgent plan to look at social issues and problems around food and water scarcity,” she said. “At the same time, we promoted electric cars and removed the huge heaps of rubbish around the city. We want to be carbon free by 2040 and we are also planting trees along rivers beds and removing rubbish from our river.”
Mayor Cosse stressed that being radical does not mean having to be extreme. “In my city, we have a major housing issue, so we are going back to the root of the problem and working with the local community,” she said. “The local government is working like a community bank where we are buying local and giving this land for free to local citizens to build their own housing cooperatives.”
Mathias De Clercq, Mayor of Ghent, also highlighted many of the innovative actions that have taken place in his city, including a car free city centre, the development of ‘green steel’, and significant steps to radically transform the building sector and lead the way on energy efficiency in buildings.
There is no planet B, only a planet A, we have to work together for it
“We actually started 20 years ago with mobility. We were the first city to create a car free zone. Today, we can see its significant impact, with bikes increasing, traffic safety and much better air quality,” said Mayor De Clercq. “We also have a big port and a lot of big companies based there, including a major steel industry. This industry has investment nearly one billion euros to ensure that the steel made in Ghent in green steel and is not damaging the environment. This shows industry can be a problem, but it can also be a solution.”
In terms of the citie’s innovative actions on building efficiency, Mayor De Clercq explained that a new brick has been develop which is circular and emits no carbon, but can transform the building sector and contribute to zero emission goals. “When something is visual, tangible and concrete, people support the idea because they understand it will help build a more positive future. There is no planet B, only a planet A, we have to work together for it,” he said.
Eszter Davida, urban planner, and a member of the New European Bauhaus (NEB) High Level Round Table, welcomed the innovative steps being taken by the leadership of cities, but stressed that cities must be targeted in their approach. The NEB Initiative is calling on everyone to build together a sustainable and inclusive future, built on the objectives of the European Green Deal.
“During the Covid-19 pandemic, we recognised we were in a crisis and cities became more agile and flexible to deal with the issues at hand,” said Davida. “It is clear that cities have the capacity and resiliency to carry out radical changes, such as producing affordable housing that is energy efficient, redesigning public education and helping to make responsible citizens, or creating urban-wide, sustainable transport.”
I would call for cities to pick one or two radical actions that will make a change to their citizens' lives
She added: “I would call for cities to pick one or two radical actions that will make a change to their citizens’ lives. If each city picks one action, then we can significantly improve the life of people in citizens and build a just future for everyone.”
A radically different model for building cities
As the climate plenary came to a close, summing up discussions, host Greg Clark had the final word. “This is not just a challenge about carbon, it is about the planet, nature and how people are going to act in the future. The role of cities is changing from one that focuses on reducing carbon to one that focuses on urban resilience and on alternative economic and social models,” he said.
“Cities can demonstrate innovation, they can change citizens’ behaviours, they can promote alternative ways of doing things and they can take a leadership position. The key idea is a radically different model of how we build cities together.”
