The Urban Green

Summary

The transcript discusses global environmental challenges, particularly those stemming from urban areas, and highlights innovative solutions being implemented in cities worldwide. Cities are urged to become low carbon, resilient, and sustainable, with examples like Vancouver's renewable energy goals and Seoul's eco-friendly public transport. The importance of citizen engagement, renewable energy, and sustainable urban planning is emphasized for a one-planet future.

Takeaways

• 🌍 Urban areas are facing significant environmental challenges, including climate change, largely due to resource-intensive lifestyles.
• 🏙️ Cities around the world are implementing innovative solutions to create more sustainable and livable environments.
• 🌿 The next 30 years are critical for urban development, with a projected doubling of the global urban population and infrastructure.
• 🚀 Urban investment decisions today will lock in either sustainable or unsustainable patterns for future city living.
• 🔄 Cities need to become low carbon, shift to renewable energy, and build resilience against the impacts of climate change.
• 🌳 Urban ecosystems and biodiversity are crucial for supporting sustainability in cities.
• 🏡 Vancouver's ambitious climate action plan aims for 100% renewable energy by 2050, emphasizing inclusive neighborhoods.
• 🚗 The transition to electric vehicles is seen as a key part of reducing greenhouse gas emissions in cities.
• 🏢 Sustainable building design, such as Vancouver's Convention Center, can minimize environmental impact.
• 🔋 Seoul's goal for 20% electricity self-reliance by 2020 demonstrates the importance of renewable energy in city planning.
• 🌿 Green walls and roofs, like those in Gothenburg, Sweden, bring nature into urban environments and contribute to sustainability.

Q & A

What are the large-scale environmental challenges faced by communities worldwide?

The large-scale environmental challenges faced by communities worldwide include dangerous irreversible climate change, which often stems from cities and resource-intensive urban lifestyles.

What is the potential impact of urban investment decisions on future infrastructure and lifestyles?

Urban investment decisions taken today will determine whether people will be locked into resource inefficient and fossil fuel dependent infrastructures and lifestyles or if they will enable cities to become places where we can live attractive, healthy, and sustainable lives.

What is the significance of the next 30 years for global urban population and infrastructure?

The next 30 years are significant because it is expected that the global urban population will double, along with the global urban infrastructure, presenting a short window of opportunity to make sustainable choices.

What are the key actions cities need to take to address urban challenges?

Cities need to become low carbon by shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy, build resilience to face the impacts of climate change, and utilize existing ecosystems and biodiversity to support sustainability.

What is Vancouver's goal regarding renewable energy by 2050?

Vancouver has adopted one of the most ambitious climate action plans with the goal of running the city on 100% renewable energy by 2050.

How has Vancouver engaged its citizens in creating a greener city?

Vancouver engaged its citizens by creating an action plan with 10 targets in various areas such as water, food, clean air, green business, green jobs, and waste reduction, involving over 35,000 residents and 180 organizations in writing and implementing the plan.

What is the role of renewable energy technologies in transforming cities?

Renewable energy technologies play a disruptive role in transforming cities by being radically different and better for consumers and society, leading to a quick disruption of current paradigms once the technology is mature.

What is the significance of electric vehicles in reducing greenhouse gas emissions?

Electric mobility is essential for meeting deep greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets, with a significant potential demand from consumers willing to pay extra for electric vehicles.

How does the Vancouver Convention Center exemplify sustainable building design?

The Vancouver Convention Center features sustainable elements such as a six-acre living roof, black water recycling treatment plant, and the use of sea water for heating and cooling, minimizing its environmental impact.

What is Seoul's goal for electricity self-reliance and how does it plan to achieve it?

Seoul aims to achieve 20% electricity self-reliance by 2020, with renewable energy playing a key role. Initiatives include installing solar panels on top of a filtering reservoir of a water purification plant to increase efficiency.

How does Gothenburg, Sweden, approach climate strategies and cooperation?

Gothenburg is recognized for its innovative climate strategies, including the introduction of green bonds and cooperation with academia and the financial sector, such as collaborating with AB Volvo to create a new electric bus.

What is the concept of 'consumption-based carbon footprint' and how does Gothenburg apply it?

Gothenburg calculates its consumption-based carbon footprint by considering emissions from the production of goods and services consumed by its residents, even if those emissions occur outside the city's borders, leading to a broader focus on climate issues.

How does Paris plan to tackle air pollution and promote sustainable mobility?

Paris plans to tackle air pollution by incentivizing sustainable mobility, subsidizing the purchase of clean electric vehicles and electric bicycles, and gradually banning the most polluted cars from the city by 2020.

What is the role of national politicians and policies in achieving sustainable cities?

National politicians and strong policies are essential to support cities in achieving their ambitious goals. A combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches involving city residents is necessary for success.

Outlines

00:00

🌿 Urban Sustainability and Climate Action

The paragraph discusses the significant environmental challenges faced by global communities, particularly due to urbanization and unsustainable lifestyles. It emphasizes the need for concrete solutions and highlights the role of cities in developing and implementing sustainable practices. The script outlines an inspirational journey to explore innovative ideas and technologies that make cities more livable and sustainable. It stresses the importance of urban investment decisions in shaping future infrastructure and the potential for cities to lead the way towards a sustainable future. The paragraph also mentions the urgency of addressing these challenges within the next 30 years due to the expected doubling of the global urban population and infrastructure.

05:02

🚗 Vancouver's Renewable Energy Goals

This section of the script focuses on Vancouver's ambitious climate action plan, which aims to run the city on 100% renewable energy by 2050. The plan involves creating vibrant, inclusive neighborhoods and working with various stakeholders to achieve sustainability. The speaker, a former mayor, shares their initial action plan with targets in various areas like water, food, clean air, green business, jobs, and waste reduction. The script also discusses the city's achievements in waste recovery, green economy, job growth, water usage reduction, and greenhouse gas emissions. The challenges of transitioning to electric vehicles and the importance of collective effort in government, residents, and businesses are also highlighted.

10:03

🏢 Green Building and Renewable Energy Integration

The paragraph showcases the Vancouver Convention Center's West Building as an example of sustainable architecture, featuring a six-acre living roof and advanced water recycling. It discusses the importance of using indigenous plants, sea water heating, and cooling systems. The script then shifts to Seoul's green initiatives, emphasizing the city's goal of 20% electricity self-reliance by 2020, with a focus on renewable energy. The efficiency of solar panels on a water purification plant is highlighted, along with the city's campaign to reduce reliance on nuclear power. The concept of passive design in green buildings to minimize energy consumption is also explained.

15:04

🌱 Nature in Urban Environments and Green Bonds

This section discusses the benefits of bringing nature into urban environments, such as green walls and rooftop solar panels, for mental well-being and renewable energy production. Gothenburg, Sweden's innovative climate strategies, including the introduction of green bonds and efforts to reduce carbon emissions, are highlighted. The script emphasizes cooperation with academia and the financial sector in developing sustainable solutions. Gothenburg's approach to calculating emissions based on consumption, not just geographical boundaries, is noted. The launch of green bonds by the World Bank and Gothenburg's pioneering use of these bonds to fund sustainable projects are also mentioned.

20:39

🌍 Sustainable Urban Expansion and Private-Public Partnerships

The paragraph talks about the global challenge of urbanization and the need for sustainable urban environments. It mentions the lack of knowledge and capital as barriers to sustainable development and how companies like Sustainable Lifestyle Scandinavia bridge the gap between private and public sectors. The script outlines a four-step process for sustainable city development: securing governmental support, master planning, attracting finance, and implementation. Paris's commitment to sustainability through sustainable mobility, renewable energy, and reintroducing nature into the city is highlighted, along with the city's efforts to combat air pollution and energy poverty.

25:40

🔌 Renewable Energy and Community Engagement

This section emphasizes the technical feasibility of transitioning to renewable energy and the need for rapid action. It discusses the importance of legislative and economic frameworks, public awareness, and individual actions in achieving a 100% renewable world. The script calls for a bottom-up approach where city leaders engage individuals to become partners in sustainability solutions, creating a sense of ownership and participation in the transition to a new world.

Keywords

💡Climate Change

Climate change refers to long-term shifts in temperatures and weather patterns, primarily caused by human activities such as burning fossil fuels and deforestation. In the video, climate change is presented as a significant challenge that cities around the world are trying to address through sustainable urban development and the adoption of renewable energy sources.

💡Urban Lifestyles

Urban lifestyles are the patterns of living, consumption, and social interaction typical of city dwellers. The script discusses how these lifestyles are often resource-intensive and contribute to environmental challenges, necessitating a shift towards more sustainable practices.

💡Sustainable Cities

Sustainable cities are urban areas designed to meet the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs. The video's theme revolves around innovative ideas and technologies that cities are implementing to become more sustainable, livable, and in harmony with nature.

💡Renewable Energy

Renewable energy is energy harnessed from natural resources such as sunlight, wind, rain, tides, and geothermal heat, which are replenished constantly. The script highlights the importance of transitioning from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources to achieve low-carbon cities.

💡Resilience

In the context of the video, resilience refers to the ability of cities to adapt to and recover from the impacts of climate change. It is a key concept in urban planning, emphasizing the need for infrastructure and communities to be prepared for various climate-related challenges.

💡Circular Economy

A circular economy is an economic system aimed at minimizing waste and making the most of resources. It is mentioned in the script as a model for cities to manage their inflows and outflows of energy, water, food, and materials sustainably.

💡Green Bonds

Green bonds are a type of financial instrument specifically earmarked to fund environmentally friendly projects. The script provides an example of Gothenburg issuing green bonds to finance sustainable projects, demonstrating how cities can mobilize private capital for environmental initiatives.

💡Eco-friendly Public Transportation

Eco-friendly public transportation refers to transportation systems that have a lower environmental impact compared to traditional modes. The video discusses how cities like Seoul are encouraging citizens to use subways and bikes to reduce reliance on cars and decrease emissions.

💡Sustainable Mobility

Sustainable mobility is about providing transportation options that are accessible, efficient, and have minimal negative impact on the environment. The script mentions how cities like Paris are promoting electric vehicles and bicycles to reduce air pollution.

💡Passive Design

Passive design in architecture aims to minimize energy consumption by utilizing natural heating, cooling, and lighting. The video gives an example of buildings in Gothenburg that use passive design techniques to optimize energy efficiency.

💡Energy Poverty

Energy poverty refers to the lack of access to affordable and reliable energy services. The script discusses how cities like Paris are working to tackle energy poverty by implementing retrofit programs and promoting renewable energy to ensure energy access for all.

Highlights

Communities face large-scale environmental challenges, including dangerous irreversible climate change.

Many challenges stem from cities and resource-intensive urban lifestyles.

Concrete solutions to these challenges are being developed and implemented globally.

Cities are exploring innovative ideas, technologies, and initiatives for sustainability.

The potential for widescale change can set us on a path towards a one planet future.

The struggle for a sustainable future will be won or lost in cities within the next 30 years.

Global urban population is expected to double, along with a doubling of global urban infrastructure.

Urban investment decisions today will determine future resource efficiency and fossil fuel dependency.

Cities must become low carbon, shift from fossil fuels towards renewable energy.

Cities need to become resilient to face the impacts of climate change.

Existing ecosystems and biodiversity in urban areas can support sustainability.

Vancouver has adopted one of the most ambitious climate action plans, aiming for 100% renewable energy by 2050.

Vancouver's plan involves working with stakeholders throughout society.

Vancouver has seen significant engagement from residents and organizations in their sustainability plan.

Innovation in Vancouver involves marrying government efforts with residents, businesses, and civil society groups.

Renewable energy technologies are disruptive, offering better options for consumers and society.

Transformation to renewable energy is expected to be rapid, similar to the industrial revolution.

Vancouver's solar energy installation growth has been about 40% per year.

Seoul aims for 20% electricity self-reliance by 2020, with a focus on renewable energy.

Gothenburg in Sweden focuses on innovative climate strategies and green bonds.

Cooperation with academia and the financial sector is key to Gothenburg's success.

Gothenburg considers its residents' consumption-based carbon footprint in environmental impact calculations.

Paris is committed to creating a more sustainable city through sustainable mobility, renewable energy, and reintroducing nature.

Cape Town and eThekwini in South Africa focus on sustainable development while battling poverty and inequality.

A combination of top-down and bottom-up approaches is necessary for achieving sustainable goals.

Transcripts

communities

around the world are currently faced

with a number of large-scale

environmental challenges

including dangerous irreversible climate

change

many of these challenges stem from

cities

and are resource-intensive urban

lifestyles

fortunately an array of concrete

solutions to these challenges

are already being developed and

implemented in cities

around the globe so we set off on an

inspirational journey

to explore the most innovative ideas

technologies

and initiatives being used by cities

today as they strive to create

more livable and sustainable cities

and with the potential to stimulate

widescale change

which would set us on the path towards a

one planet future

where humans live in harmony with nature

the struggle for a sustainable future on

this planet will be

won or lost in our cities in the next 30

years

we expect a doubling of the global urban

population

and with that a doubling of the global

urban infrastructure

that is a very short window of

opportunity to get things right

so urban investment decisions taken

today

will determine whether people will be

locked into

resource inefficient and fossil fuel

dependent

infrastructures and lifestyles or if

they will enable cities to become places

where we can live

attractive and healthy and sustainable

lives

over the next 30 years more than five

times the global gdp

will be invested in urban infrastructure

and its use

so it's critical that those investments

are made in a sustainable and resilient

way

a number of actions that cities have to

take

and actually take together is first of

all to try to become

low carbon to shift from fossil fuel

towards renewable energy secondly to

become resilient

we are going to face the impacts of

climate change and they will be

different

from one part in the world to the other

part we have to look

thirdly into how can our existing

ecosystems

our biodiversity that we have in urban

areas how can that

support us in our sustainability

well the urban challenges the world is

is tremendous i mean we'll soon have 75

of the world population living in cities

and i would argue that the number one

challenge for cities is actually not

inside the city

it's to recognize that it has to be

sustainable in its entire

inflows and outflows of energy of

water of food of all materials so to see

itself like they're part of a wider

ecosystem so that you plan

every urban area for every citizen that

it keeps itself within a circular

economic model

in terms of resources in and out and the

second most important is to

build resilient cities so how are

leading green cities around the world

responding to this enormous challenge

one of the most ambitious climate action

plans has been adopted

by the city of vancouver whose goal is

to run the city on

100 renewable energy by 2050

vancouver's plan focuses on vibrant and

inclusive neighborhoods

and creating a city that meets the needs

of generations to come

they intend to achieve this by working

with a broad range of stakeholders

throughout society

when i first campaigned for mayor in

2008

one of my key priorities was to make

vancouver the world's greenest city by

2020.

so we put together an action plan worked

with

citizens and businesses and

neighborhoods

put together 10 targets in water

food clean air green business green jobs

reducing our carbon reducing our

consumption and

zero waste

at the beginning we were worried this

was too much for people like that they

wouldn't

be able to see a point of entry into it

and we were totally wrong

and we've had over 35 000 residents 180

organizations who engaged in writing our

plan

tens of thousands of residents who've

been involved in implementing because

when they write the plan

they own the plan

and as a result we've had over 150

separate city policy initiatives

that range from big farms in the middle

of a dense city like vancouver

waste recovery that we've had we've had

technology that we're doing i'm green

economy we've raised our green jobs by

19

we've reduced our water usage by 18 uh

greenhouse gas emissions are way down

because

many more people are biking and walking

and taking transit

but it's really the innovation is how

you marry

a government to the residents to the

businesses

to the different civil society groups

and make it a collective effort

creating a fossil fuel-free city is

possible but requires

a shift to green energy in all areas

our new goal is to be 100 renewable in

the city of vancouver with all of our

energy sources

and it will be a challenge with

transportation in particular we don't

know

when we will have electric vehicles for

the whole city

we're waiting on the industry side to

get a clear sense of

what year that's possible we're planning

out the timeline right now

basically making decisions to eliminate

fossil fuels from

our city many experts today refer to

renewable energy technologies

as disruptive in the sense that they're

radically different

from conventional technologies and are

so much better for

consumers and society that they will

very quickly disrupt current paradigms

once the technology is ripe they happen

very quickly and i think

electric cars and solar energy and wind

energy they're right

a lot of people think they have these

forecasts for you know

20 40 we're having just a bit more

percentage of these

i think the transformation is going to

happen so quickly that most of these

forecasts are going to be

quite short you know quite often because

these are disruptive technologies

they're better technologies for the

consumers

and we've crossed the price points where

they make sense

so once that happens it's basically a

matter of awareness

getting around word of mouth the

understanding the experience

and as that grows it grows exponentially

and we're going to see a rapid i think a

transformation

you know comparable to the industrial

revolution or such

so this is a solar energy installation

here in vancouver british columbia in

fact when we first started 10 years ago

people told us we couldn't do this that

it didn't make sense here

but we recognized that there were some

people that wanted to install solar that

wanted to do something leading edge that

wanted to do something to reduce their

environmental footprint

so we started with these panels uh this

system

uh since then uh the installation growth

has been about 40

per year uh so in fact it could be done

here there was a demand people want to

see more renewable energy installed

locally

the research that we're doing is looking

at the transportation sector because

that's a

huge part of our greenhouse gas

emissions and about how we can connect

our transportation system to renewables

and we're finding that

really electric mobility is an essential

part of meeting our deep

greenhouse gas emissions reduction so to

have at 80 reduction by 2050

we need to have a big fleet of electric

vehicles uh really almost in every city

around the world and the research we're

doing finds that there's a lot of

potential demand there's a lot of

consumers out there who'll be willing to

pay extra for some type of plug-in

hybrid vehicle

or pure electric vehicle but currently

they they can't do that because it's not

available in the model they want or in

the variety

or color or whatever it is that they

want and so we're finding is there's

some

areas that are showing us a good

examples of policy

that can trigger that change and

california has the best example

that we found

california right now is leading

the standards they've said that ten

percent of the vehicles sold in

california

have to be electric vehicles they have

committed

to an 80 reduction in greenhouse gases

if other states washington oregon

british columbia ontario quebec and nine

eastern states

were to adopt that kind of california

policy

we would create a demand for electric

vehicles that would make them very

commonplace

and we would get to the point where

using

the weight of states and the weight

of cities we could begin to transform

our our emissions and that's where we

need to go because we cannot wait for

national governments to take us there

anymore

and once people understand

that an electric vehicle is actually

cheaper

it saves them money all of a sudden

that will turn the market in in a

massive way

like transportation housing is also a

major challenge

in the aim of creating sustainable

cities the vancouver convention center

is a prime example of how buildings can

be designed to minimize environmental

impacts

we're here at the vancouver convention

center's west building which opened in

april 2009

and it's actually one of the greatest

convention facilities in the world

and just to give you a few examples we

have

really visible sustainable features such

as our six-acre living roof which is

the largest in canada we have a very

sophisticated

black water recycling treatment plant

in-house as well as

we utilize sea water heating and cooling

because we're right on the harbor

here at the vancouver convention

center's living roof this is six

acres and it's actually one of the ten

largest green roofs in the world

so what makes this green roof really

unique is the fact that we've chosen

plants that are all

indigenous to british columbia so we've

actually planted over four hundred

thousand

plants and grasses on top of this area

it really connects to other green spaces

here in downtown vancouver

so if you're looking at downtown

vancouver from an aerial perspective

you're gonna see that this space

connects to the park next door

and it connects to stanley park and it

really was part of the vision of our

architects

so the mega city and capital of south

korea

has seen a remarkable positive change

thanks to courageous green initiatives

the city has been recognized for its

determination

to ramp up the use of renewable energy

and building citizen engagement

may be many diverse options and policies

to combat the climate change issues

the city like so has

more than 10 million citizens so we

should provide more

environmental transportations and also

bring solutions to the buildings

which is more environmental but most

important thing is

to mobilize the citizens engagement

and participation in this process

during our development period there are

too many

roads and too many cars and citizens

accustomed to using cars so instead of

it we should

build the more eco-friendly

public transportation such as subway

or bikes so i

really encourage the citizens to have

their own

ideas and actions

an impressive initiative by the city of

seoul is its goal to achieve

20 electricity self-reliance by 2020

obviously renewable energy plays an

important role

in this transition

so the solar panels here are installed

on top of

a filtering reservoir of the water

purification

plant that filtering reservoir

has a cooling effect so the solar panel

become more efficient

so the average uh power generation hours

and so

it's a 3.1 or 3.2 hours per day

but here thanks to that cooling effect

the figure is higher than the average

which is 3.7 or

8 hours per day so metropolitan

government has this campaign of

one less nuclear power plant and this

uh pivo plant contribute to the campaign

so we hope that this type of plant

are distributed and expanded around the

soul city

along with renewable energy production

lowering a city's overall energy

consumption

by constructing buildings and houses

that consume very little or no energy

is key one approach is to use passive

design in any green building the first

thing we have to do

is work on passive design maximizing the

energy

that we can get from passive design

passive design means

we use a lot of insulation we use

special glass

and special curtain walls to make the

envelope

optimal so that the energy does not leak

through the walls let nature work with

you

instead of trying to work against nature

let nature

cool us and heed us passive design

techniques allow us to do that

to tap the nature to provide us with our

needs

one of the great features of this

building

are these incredible green walls it

brings nature

into our urban environment and some

scientists say that when we see

green it just helps us feel good and

relieve our stress on the whole rooftop

there's solar panels so this

building is generating a lot of

renewable energy

to provide electricity to this building

gothenburg in sweden has been recognized

for its innovative climate strategies

the introduction of green bonds and for

its work

to decrease residence consumption-based

carbon emissions

another key to success is cooperation

with academia

and the financial sector

i think the reason for the success story

about gothenburg and

the environmental work and especially

climate work is that we have

been good at cooperation and one example

for us is like when we

together with a.b volvo and others

built a new completely new electric bus

a bus which didn't exist but we decided

we want

that bus and the city planned in in

their way

volvo planned of course with creating

the bus and the bus was there after

less than two years and now you can see

the light green bus going up and down

the streets of gerbenberg gothenburg is

a leading city when it comes to looking

at the larger picture

for example taking its residents

consumption-based carbon footprint into

account

when considering how they impact the

environment

the consumption-based carbon footprint

means that

when we calculate emissions in the city

from the citizens

we not only look at the missions that

are are emitted

within the city's borders we also take

into account our consumption

of products and services that causes

emissions

in other countries and other parts of

sweden by doing so

we also get new perspectives on which uh

climate issues that we have to focus on

normally when we have a

geographical perspective that is the

traditional way in cities and

countries there's a lot of focus on

transport energy production and industry

and that's important

but with the consumption-based carbon

footprints we're also going to focus

on the consumption of food the

consumption on

air travel and other kind of consumption

in 2008 green bonds was launched by the

world bank

as a tool to guarantee that money is

invested

in sustainable projects gothenburg was

the first city in the world

to issue such bonds

i think the cornerstone for green bonds

is the simplicity

the essence of the green bond is that is

earmark money in that way when we issue

a bond you offer the investors the

opportunity to invest in specific

projects so they know exactly where

their money

money is going so far we have invested

in electric cars

biogas production and also in a water

purification filter

when you take those two extremely strong

forces finance and sustainability

and make them move forward together you

create something really exciting

actually

sometimes there's a political will for

sustainable change but the city

lacks the financial resources to see it

through one such example of how to help

bridge the gap between private and

public sectors

is the swedish company sustainable

lifestyle scandinavia

the world is facing a huge challenge in

coming decades with close to three

billion

people moving into urban districts which

means that we

we have to take on a sustainable

approach in order to build

the urban environments and there we saw

that

the political will is there but there is

a lack of

know-how knowledge and capital and

that's where we

in sustainability livestock scandinavia

bridge that gap

the concept has already been proven

successful and is now being implemented

in the chongyang county in china

where private capital is fueling the

sustainable expansion of the city

that

the first step is making it a

demonstration project to secure

governmental support next step is making

the

master planning and infrastructure

design and then comes

attracting the finance to capital and

then final step is

implementation

the city of paris host to the united

nations conference on climate change

has been recognized for its huge

commitment to create a more sustainable

city by focusing on sustainable mobility

renewable energy and the reintroduction

of nature in the city

paris resoluments

energy

we have now in paris a big issue about

hair pollution this is big trouble for

health as well

so we have decided to develop many

measure on one hand we

give incentive to people that they shift

to a

sustainable mobility and on the other

hand we have a special program that

state by step is going to forbid the

most polluted cars within the city by

2020

that just like the cleanest one can

circulate it

in the city to a lower lower that

pollution

we are subsidizing for taxis and

individuals the purchase of

clean electric vehicles also the buying

of electric bicycles if

you buy an electric bicycle you get a

subsidy

out of the fourth of the total price

from the city of paris so

we are really pushing very hard on

electric vehicles it's one of our

priorities and now we can see the reason

that

persons are promoting the electric

vehicles

increasing investments in renewable

energy and retrofit programs

is a clear priority for paris as is

their sustainable

development action network in paris

we're going to have many action in the

next years to implement our climate

action plan

but i would say we have three big issues

right now it's to develop

green energies in the city it's also to

strengthen our

retrofit plan to uh mitigate gag

emissions but also to tackle energy

poverty

we have in paris created what we call

the sustainable development action

networks and it gathers

individuals association but also

startups that having

make commitments to face climate issues

and instead of being alone in that in

that

fight we are gathering them helping them

to share experiences

to go to grow bigger and also to be more

known from the paris population and this

network now is gathering nearly 10

percent of the paris population

two south african cities cape town and

schwanne

have both been praised for their

commitments to sustainable development

while simultaneously battling challenges

such as poverty and social inequality

in the city of china and in south africa

in general we've got we are faced with

triple challenges that

of unemployment poverty and

inequality so it's important that you

are able to skill people to participate

in the mainstream economy

we all have a responsibility as citizens

to do what we can to protect

the planet from the harmful effects of

climate change

and it is an imperative that we see a

shift

from our reliance on traditional energy

sources

and look to as many cleaner energy

sources

as possible one of our natural

advantages

is the number of sundays so we must

exploit that resource and that's why

we're introducing

solar powered energy but we also want to

use it to resolve the

housing question in our city so as we

expand and give more free houses to the

poor

we the roof panels must be designed in a

manner that we are able to put the solar

panels

so in this way you are resolving both an

existing and immediate

question but also a future question with

regards to your energy mix

and that's how we want to use solar

going forward

it's clear that cities need the support

of national politicians

and strong policies in order to achieve

their real potential

and ambitious goals a combination of

both

a top-down and bottom-up approach is

absolutely necessary

and demands a common effort that truly

involves

city residents

changing our energy system to renewable

energies is possible technically

possible

but we have to move very fast the

economic

framework the legislative framework we

have to inform

people we have to make actions on all

level

i myself on my roof and everyone else in

his city in this municipality

and in this region and if we do that

then we can reach a 100 renewable world

in 2015. leaders in a city

do have to approach individuals to make

them

partners it cannot be done top down

people have to embrace solutions and

feel that they are part of of a new

world

you