A toolbox to help cities find solutions to urban decarbonisation and increase their resilience to climate change has been launched by the World Economic Forum (WEF).
Toolbox of Solutions: Decarbonizing Urban Ecosystems is an open-access platform sharing more than 300 case studies detailing best practice on decarbonisation in more than 150 cities. Users can access the case studies through a search that is tailored to each city’s strategic planning priorities, as well as specific attributes including electricity grids, population density and income level. It contains knowledge and proven examples that result in lower emissions, as well as advancing economic development, job creation and improved human health through better air and water quality.
The WEF said that 68% of people will live in cities by 2050, leading to greater energy consumption and infrastructure demand but also higher carbon emissions. Most of the solutions to reduce global carbon emissions are not being adopted and scaled rapidly enough, it added.
“For urban ecosystems, the solutions and innovations needed to reduce emissions already exist,” said WEF head of energy, materials and infrastructure programme Kristen Panerali. “We know that to shift the climate change trajectory, urban ecosystems and the economy must become far more efficient, electric and circular.”
The toolbox will work in tandem with ‘city sprint’, a series of structured workshops that convenes city leaders and local businesses to foster public and private sector delivery of decarbonisation projects. The WEF has held 10 city sprints in the past year, with more planned in 2023.
The solutions were curated with from the support National Institute of Urban Affairs, Sustainable Energy for All, the Basel Agency for Sustainable Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute.
