Global research agenda for cities and climate change mapped out
The inaugural Cities IPCC Cities and Climate Change Science Conference, hosted by the City of Edmonton, Canada, culminated last week with the establishment of a global blueprint to better understand climate change, its impacts on cities, and the critical role localities play in solving this challenge.
Over three days, scientists, policymakers, researchers and development experts worked to assess the current state of academic and practice-based knowledge related to cities and climate change, identify key knowledge priorities, and chart a course forward for academic, practitioner and urban policy-making communities.
The conference agreed that transformation needs to happen now, focusing on the need for:
Inclusion and social transformation, focusing on:
Justice, equity
Power asymmetries and structural barriers
Most vulnerable populations & ecosystems
The challenges and opportunities of informality
Innovative forms of governance and institutions
Improving evidence-based information
Boundaries of urban systems
Exploring trade-offs and synergies of climate change mitigation & adaptation
Data, scenarios and modelling at the city level
Robust climate and urban information
Inequity in data gaps; mapping informal settlements
Potential and benefits of Nature-Based Solutions
Funding & finance
Role of banks, insurance companies & developers in climate action/inaction
Translation of costs & benefits of climate actions across multi-economic sectors (e.g. private/finance)
“The impacts of climate change are already being felt in our urban areas, and the next few years are critical for determining how effectively we will rise to the challenge of protecting our cities. However, we can’t undertake this work blindly. At this conference we have been able to coalesce around the most important areas of inquiry so we can use precious time and resources in the most efficient and targeted way possible. And this research won’t just help save our cities – it will 1 also improve them for generations to come,” said Seth Schultz, Director of Science and Innovation, C40 Climate Leadership Group, and one of the co-chairs of the conference’s Scientific Steering Committee .
The conference, the first of its kind, was co-sponsored by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) , with nine partners - C40 Cities, Cities Alliance, Future Earth , ICLEI, the Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN), United Cities and Local Governments (UCLG), the United Nations Environment Programme (UN Environment), UN-Habitat, and the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP) .
More information is here.
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