Cities account for over 70% of global CO2 emissions, primarily from industrial and motorized transport systems that use fossil fuels and rely on extensive infrastructure. Forty major cities participated in a research study, including Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, New York, Moscow, and others. Ten cities have received the EU Mission Label award, recognizing their plans to achieve climate neutrality by 2030.
A new study found that 25 mega-cities produce 52 of urban greenhouse gas emissions, with Asian cities emitting the most greenhouse gases. In response, 25 mega-cities have pledged to become carbon neutral by 2050. Energy-efficient buildings contribute significantly to this goal.
Cities account for more than 50% of the global population, 80 percent of global GDP, and two-thirds of global energy consumption. The Global Program for Resilient Housing is working with eight countries to build more resilient neighborhoods. By 2050, cities could cut annual GHG emissions by 8.0 Gt CO2e over national policies, equivalent to cutting annual global emissions.
At least 240 cities globally have set net-zero or carbon-neutral targets for 2050 or sooner, according to Oxford University research. Cities that offer better buses, subways, and other transportation options have fewer commuters and use far less energy while reducing traffic and GHG emissions.
Over 80 cities participate in the “Towards carbon-neutral cities” network (HINKU) and are committed to achieving an 80 reduction in their emissions. Policies have been adopted at state and regional levels to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, develop clean energy resources, and promote sustainable living. However, even progressives are hard to convince that drawing people into cities could cut emissions and combat housing crises.
📹 ‘What Percent Of Our Atmosphere Is CO2?’: Doug LaMalfa Stumps Entire Panel With Climate Questions
Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) questioned witnesses at a House Transportation Committee about the Infrastructure Investment and …
What are 5 ways to reduce greenhouse gases?
GHG reduction programs and strategies include energy efficiency, renewable energy, supply chain, waste reduction and diversion strategies, reducing methane emissions, and increasing fuel efficiency in transportation and logistics. The U. S. EPA’s ENERGY STAR Program, partnered with over 15, 000 organizations, provides technical information and tools to help organizations and consumers choose energy-efficient solutions and best management practices. These strategies aim to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet emissions targets, ensuring a cleaner and more sustainable environment.
How do cities reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Cities play a crucial role in combating climate change, using renewable energy sources, cleaner production techniques, and regulations to limit industrial emissions. This approach reduces pollution from industries and transport, improving urban air quality and health. UNEP, in collaboration with partners, assists national and local governments by raising awareness, organizing workshops, developing evaluation tools, and involving cities in international climate change meetings.
The Joint Work Programme between UNEP, the World Bank, UN-Habitat, and Cities Alliance focuses on developing countries, supporting urban adaptation and mitigation processes. The main output of this cooperation is an online knowledge center on cities and climate change. UNEP is a member of the Climate Neutral Network, which aims to transition to a low-emissions and climate neutral society. The Environment and Climate Change Outlook project by UNEP’s Division of Early Warning and Assessment provides a global methodology for vulnerability and impact assessments for adaptation to climate change.
What are 2 specific ways greenhouse gas emission can be reduced in industry?
Manufacturers can reduce their emissions by replacing fossil fuels with low/no carbon alternatives, transitioning to renewable electricity, electrifying vehicle fleets, and increasing recycled materials usage. The manufacturing sector accounts for one-fifth of global carbon emissions and 54 percent of energy usage. Reducing emissions is crucial for reaching global climate targets and benefits manufacturers by staying compliant with legislation, minimizing waste, and increasing efficiency.
What are other cities doing to combat climate change?
Cities are leading the way in sustainability and climate innovation by focusing on building efficiency, investing in electric vehicles, optimizing waste operations, improving public transportation, and investing in renewable energy. These efforts are reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, climate migration is causing more Americans to relocate due to extreme weather events, highlighting the need for cities to plan for the future and adapt to these challenges.
How are cities adapting to climate change?
Cities and local authorities should focus on increasing green spaces to limit urban heat island effects and use them as rain gardens during heavy precipitation. Building codes should also be adjusted to future climate conditions and extreme weather events. Climate change is already causing severe impacts on ecosystems, economic sectors, and human health. To adapt, actions should be tailored to specific circumstances in different parts of Europe.
Examples include capturing rainwater for watering gardens or washing cars, planting trees for shade during heat waves, and insulating houses to reduce the need for cooling and heating. Despite global efforts to reduce emissions, climate change is expected to worsen in the future.
How do countries reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
EU Member States have implemented 3, 000 policies and measures to mitigate climate change impacts, with national strategies in development. These include targets for greenhouse gas emissions in key sectors, promoting renewable energy and low carbon fuels, and improving energy efficiency in buildings. The project is to reduce total net greenhouse gas emissions by 43 in 2030, including international aviation. However, progress varies across sectors, with most reductions in the energy supply sector. Agriculture and transport still face challenges in reducing emissions.
What are some examples of cities around the world that have made changes to reduce CO2 emissions?
Ten European cities, including Cluj-Napoca, Klagenfurt, Madrid, Mannheim, Sønderborg, Stockholm, Valencia, Valladolid, Vitoria Gasteiz, and Zaragoza, have been awarded the EU Mission Label for their ambitious Climate City Contracts (CCCs), which are concrete plans and roadmaps for achieving climate neutrality by 2030. The award is a step towards a global green transition, highlighting the critical role of urban systems and cities in achieving climate resilience. The World Economic Forum report highlights the importance of urban systems in achieving a green transition.
What are cities doing to reduce air pollution?
Urban air quality is notably poor due to pollution sources such as power generation, vehicle traffic, and construction. Particulate matter and nitrogen dioxide are major pollutants with significant health consequences. To combat this, innovative approaches like urban gardens, green spaces, wind tunnels, smart traffic lights, and low-emission zones have been developed. However, over 80 percent of people in urban areas worldwide are exposed to air quality levels higher than the World Health Organization’s 2005 guidelines for acceptable levels of air pollution.
Low-income cities are at the highest risk for respiratory diseases and other health problems. The World Health Organization significantly reduced their recommended levels of acceptable air pollution exposure in 2021, indicating that an even higher percentage of these cities will fail to meet the new guidelines if they don’t take action to improve air quality.
Which countries are controlling greenhouse gases successfully?
Sweden is leading the energy transition, aiming to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 59 by 2030 and achieve a net-zero carbon economy by 2045. Other countries leading the race to net zero include Norway, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Finland, the United Kingdom, and New Zealand. The Paris Agreement, signed at the UN Climate Change Conference in 2015, commits 196 parties to a legally binding climate action treaty.
Since then, countries have implemented measures to limit global average temperature increase to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels and pursue efforts to limit it to 1. 5°C. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) states that limiting global warming to 1. 5°C requires a 43-percent decline in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030.
How are greenhouse gas emissions being reduced?
Renewable energy sources like solar, geothermal, wind turbines, ocean wave and tidal energy, waste and biomass energy, and hydropower generate electricity without emitting greenhouse gases. Nuclear energy is also a solution to climate change, but it generates radioactive waste that requires long-term storage. The percentage of electricity from renewable sources is growing, with countries like Iceland and Costa Rica generating nearly all their electricity from renewable sources. Wind turbines can be located on land or in the ocean, where high winds are common.
In what ways does our local government try to reduce greenhouse gas emissions?
Waste reduction is a crucial method to reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) by reducing energy used in material production and the flow of materials to landfills. This page offers resources and examples to help local governments in Washington State in their efforts to reduce GHG emissions in areas such as municipal operations, procurement, telework, electric vehicles, land use, and waste reduction.
E2SHB 2301 establishes new grant programs for food waste reduction and organic material management policy implementation, amends organic material collection service requirements, and establishes a work group to study food donation by businesses.
ESSB 6291 changes the operation of the State Building Code Council, requiring the state energy code to be the minimum energy code for renovated nonresidential buildings. 2HSB 2071 directs the State Building Code Council to convene advisory groups to recommend changes to apply the residential code to multiplex housing and smaller dwelling units under the building code. The Office of Regulatory and Innovation Assistance is required to contract for the development of an optional standard energy code plan set that meets or exceeds all energy code regulations for residential housing.
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As an urban planner working directly on this issue, don’t underestimate the immense political pressure that goes into maintaining an inequitable status quo. Even the prospect of legalizing walkable, mixed use development in American cities is so challenging, because there is immense political pushback at the local level. Federal policy is great (though unlikely), but real change will require local implementation. The best thing an individual perusal this article can go do is to get involved at the local level – neighborhood organizations, planning commissions, and city council meetings alike are all dominated by folks who would prefer to keep cities encased in amber, which will mean the same car dependent sprawling patterns of development if there isn’t meaningful pushback towards a more just future.
As an urban planner who deals with this challenge everyday in the face of political pressure and NIMBYism, I appreciate this article. In general there needs to be a cultural shift in the US, but governments at all levels must allocate more resources to other modes of transportation. I can go explain to the public why mixed use, walkability and complete street etc are all great for our cities in the long run, but if our public transportation is completely unreliable and people don’t even feel safe to walk to the station to ride the subway, things would only look good on paper and no actual transformation on the ground.
I don’t understand why so many people are so married to the idea of cars. There is no “freedom” associated with it, it’s a 2-ton piece of property that have to store in a specific way, that you have to drive a specific speed range and can really only be driven on government/private built roads to specific destinations. You’ve reinvented a train but in the most inconvenient and useless way, I used to like cars and I still have appreciation for their design but with Prius’s, base Civics/Accords, and Corollas being the most common cars in the US shows how little actual interest people have in driving.
That’s extremely interesting! Our crew explored another idea for a future city related to water-related issues. We showed an innovative concept created by a professor in China called Sponge Cities. The idea is to collect, store, and release rain and wastewater as needed and use this eco-city to help prevent floods, droughts, and water pollution. It’s already on trial in 30 locations, and we analysed if this could be the future of urban water management.
In addittion to the points of this article, one of the best things we can do for our cities is referencing indigenous communities. Many of the people who came before us lived on lands we currently occupy for several generations without running into the issues of climate change, resource scarcity and inequity as we experience today. We would be remiss to not recognise the treasure trove of practical knowledge that those who came before us have to share.
Unfortunately I don’t see this reality changing any time soon, as many in the comments have mentioned, political pressure and powerful organizations/carmakers will prevent cities from evolving to bring about their obsolescence, so unless a culture shift occurs we are stuck making tooth and nail changes like freeway cap parks or bike lanes. For example, in Los Angeles in the mid 1920s, Firestone Tires and GM purchased a monopoly share of the streetcar companies in the city, and a few factors considered, the streetcar was essentially killed in the city to make way for cars (made by GM) that needed tires (made by Firestone). As long as a capitalistic society is controlled by companies with lots of capital, the scales will never tip in favor of the people as a whole, it’s simple economics. 🙁
I’m from Indonesia, and the plan to make a new capital doesn’t really suit my taste, especially with the removal of rainforests in Borneo, where the new capital is planned to be built. Nonetheless, the President’s proposal that the city will run on green energy still intrigues me, and I’m looking forward to see how the new capital really runs.
Trained urban planner here. This article, far too utopian, no concrete bits on how to actually get the ball moving forward. This is the type of stuff that made me stray away from being a ‘big letter’. “Urban Planner”. For folks in the field who don’t like how things are being built your best bet is to become a developer as this is who (after policy makers) controls how developments are being built, and in the larger context cities end up looking. Lastly, the architects 4 criteria for making a project walkable forgot one important part: the walk needs to connect two desirable locations (school, work, amenities, grocery, etc). Nobody will care much (or take that walk) if the walk iisn’t going to get them to a place they want to go in a good amount of time.
Marshall J Corbert of Gurman Patent for cold plasma aerial motorways used by Bradford Sorensen patent flying vans similar to film “NeoSeoul 2144 A.D.” and patented HOTOL spaceplanes of Xcor, Aerospace and by Hector D’ Auvergne improved with fission fragment uranium gas core and cosmic ray muon catalyzed fusion engines are needed.
My city went from a derelict hood to the most livable city in the region in 3 decades but it took a mayor reelected 3 times to kick start it all and force the next mayors to follow up on that program given its success… One politician isn’t gonna do much in terms of urban design over one term even if he was willing it takes the whole of society. No one that wants to put a stop to that program will be elected here.
So I’m quite involved in this issue and I’m happy Vox is getting involved. Because I think that American cities most of all, should focus on becoming walkable, bikeable by doing away with these terrible zoning laws and car centered building rules. However, I don’t think the strange focus on racism and diversity here is very helpful. America is car centered because of a powerful car lobby, racism has nothing to do with it. Rebuilding cities to be human focused again would be good for everyone in the city and it’s in my opinion distracting and needlessly polarising to make that about diversity.
They weren’t “built for human connection”! They were “built 350 years ago, largely on top of themselves, and the sheer limits of space, coupled with the largest vehicles at the time being either A. The horse, or B. The horse-drawn carriage (ownership of which gave one automatic right of way), meant they didn’t NEED broad roads”. It’s also worth noting that US is 5,000% bigger than the Baltic States COMBINED (making them smaller than Missouri IN AGGREGATE), 4,000% bigger than, say, the totality of the UK (which is smaller than just Michigan), 3,250% bigger than Italy (which is smaller than Arizona), 2,650% bigger than Germany (smaller than Montana), 2,500% bigger than Japan (smaller than California), 2,000% bigger than France (smaller than Texas) and about 900% larger than the Nordic States COMBINED (smaller than Alaska). So, that all said… wanna rethink your premise here a tad?
Real dystopian issue is rail transit track trains and trolleys were used to herd people into solar agricultural serfdom such as Roosevelt’s internment camps, Hitler’s concentration camps. and Stalin’s Gulags. “Railways & War Before 1918” by Bishop & Davis described Brennan and Schiel portable monorails while “Scientific American 1884” described Decauville portables used by Victorians during Afghanistan wars.
Can we just STOP trying to add NEW IDEAS into EXISTING POLITICS??? Making cities more walkable is something that basically everyone can agree with wether your a Republican or a Democrat, So why do you see the need to also make this about Equity, Climate change, and “social justice”, topics that you KNOW are controversial and will only divide people even more?? Here is an opportunity to make every American work together to achieve a common goal, but you INSIST on adding it to a list of things that Democrats and Republicans are just going to argue about Why Vox??? WHY????
Okay, hopeful, but Americans are currently flocking to car depended, suburban-sprawl towns in the Sunbelt. Most new McMansion crapvilles ape the development of Southern California from the 1960’s to 2010’s, but without the benign climate, walk-ability or outdoor recreation. Basically, you’re preaching to the choir: people who are already drawn to urban living, but a whole lot of people are joyfully doubling down on the mistakes of the past.
What they should do is replace rail transit tracks with airships of Robert L Morrison’s patented lighter than air solids sealed int metal foils having Podrog’s patented x-rays on hafnium powered Lockwood’s valveless pulsejet engines and replace agricultural farms with vats of electroporated Knall Gas bacteria.