Reflections provided by members of our ESG team; Bec Micallef, Senior Analyst, and Larissa Machiels, Associate.
Sustainable urban development was in the spotlight today. A ‘Joint Outcome Statement on Urbanisation and Climate Change’ was on the agenda, which set out a “plan to boost the inclusion of cities in the decision-making process on climate change, drive multilevel climate action and accelerate the deployment of urban climate finance so that cities are prepared and supported to respond to the climate crisis”.
The urgency to include climate change considerations in city planning is clear. As many as 90% of cities are threatened by rising sea levels and storms, and their residents are exposed to ten degrees higher temperatures than rural counterparts. Meanwhile, by 2050, it is expected that the number of people living in cities will be double what it is today.
Attendees were convinced, with 40 ministers and other stakeholders across the globe lending support to ‘the Statement’.
It was clear as the events of the day unfolded that coordinated, multi-level action is paramount to solving these problems.
In the unprecedented ‘Local Climate Action Summit’, there was a call to action – the message: every leader has a voice, and their voice can contribute to the development of each country’s Nationally Determined Contributions.
City councils, local government pension schemes, and local business leaders can all play a role in shaping national-level pledges from below. This call to develop a Coalition for High Ambition Multilevel Partnerships has been supported by over 60 national governments.
It is widely understood by all parties at COP28 that the scale and breadth of action required can only be realised if stakeholders develop partnerships across multiple levels. As the day of discussions showed, cities and the built environment remain a leading example of this approach.
There is a huge investment gap hampering the ability of cities to upgrade urban infrastructure to decarbonise/decarbonize as quickly as possible while adapting to worsening climate scenarios. Electrification of transportation and the built environment remains an eye-watering challenge that can only be met through adequate financing and robust policy incentives.
This challenge is made more complex by the fact that cities are home to the majority of the world’s population. It means that it is critical that climate change solutions take the social implications of urban design into account to ensure this transition is both just and socially inclusive. Anything less will have severe repercussions for society for a long time to come.
