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Sustainable Cities and the Global Environment Outlook

Peter Gilruth, Director, DEWA Arab Hoballah, SCP Chief, DTIE

Special event on 29 January 2012

At the Intergovernmental Meeting to Negotiate and Endorse the GEO-5 Summary for Policy Makers 29 - 31 January 2012

Outline Cities and the Environment UNEP Work on Built Environment

Towards Rio+20

An Urban Future
Our future is urban

An Urban Future
A new geographical distribution
Urban population distribution

Source: UN-DESA World Urbanization Prospects, the 2007 Revision. p.5

Environmental Impact of Urbanization

The environmental footprint of cities is far larger than their physical boundaries Atmospheric pollution : 60 70 % of global derived GHG emissions is from cities Local environment: high concentration of particulate matter is a danger to health
Annually 5.3% of the deaths worldwide (3.1 million) are attributable to air pollution. (WHO)

Environmental Impact of Urbanization

Water: high levels of contamination where the population density is high and the sanitation standards are low
Waste :1.7-1.9 billion tonnes, or 46 % of global waste

Environmental Impact of Urbanization

Africa:
Rapid, unplanned urban growth land degradation marine pollution

Asian Cities :
Air pollution: high concentration of Particulate Matter (PM) Increasing carbon footprint as wealth is concentrated in cities Changing consumption patterns

Environmental Impact of Urbanization Latin America:

climate change, biodiversity loss and concerns over water and land management poverty and inequity are also of high priority

Europe and North America

North American urban sprawl Shrinking cities Large carbon footprint

The Vulnerability of Cities to Environmental Impacts

Vulnerability: Cities are highly vulnerable vis--vis the impacts of global environmental degradation High exposure to climate change-driven natural disasters and climatic change Concentration of vulnerable people (e.g. the poor) Insufficient/unequal access to basic urban services resulting in social and environmental impacts

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Cities for Sustainability

Economies of Scale Hubs of knowledge and innovation Strategic importance of cities as part of the broader ecosystem Social and economic dominance: 50% of global population and 80% of the global GDP Potential for efficiency

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UNEP and Built Environment Approach based on:

Resource efficiency and SCP
1. Buildings 2. Cities 3. Lifestyles and Efficiency

Green Economy
1. Cost of innaction 2. Benefits 3. incentives

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UNEP: Working with Cities

Supporting cities in their mitigation strategies

Mainstreaming Environment into City Development Strategy UNEP as a centre for knowledge and innovation: Knowledge Center Cities and Climate Change (K4C) http://www.kcccc.info/preview

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UNEP: Working with Cities

Tools for measuring, reporting and verification of environmental data Urban CDM with Gwangju Conducting city-level assessments: the GEO Cities series.

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Working with the Building sector Sustainable Building and Climate Initiative (SBCI)
Over 18 private sector partners including big companies all over the world Advocating and developing a common voice for the building sector together with a benchmarking system to assess the environmental performance of buildings

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UNEP: Working with the Building sector Sustainable Social Housing Initiative (SUSHI) Sustainable Building Policies in Developing Countries (SPoD)

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Key Strategic Partnerships

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Summary of UNEPs approach Support local authorities and the building sector stakeholders and establish networks of cooperation Incorporate resource efficiency into urban policies and design Promoting common tools for city/buildings environmental data and assessment.

Towards Rio + 20 Elements of a Global Initiative on Cities

Platform for consultation and for sharing best practices among city managers/urban planners Developing common metrics for sustainable cities, (e.g., for GHG emissions, city environmental performance assessments, Common Carbon Metric in the building sector, etc) Promote clean energy and energy efficiency and to support technology transfer and climate finance

Towards Rio + 20 Elements of a Global Initiative on Cities

Mainstreaming mitigation/adaptation concerns into development policies and plans
Low carbon mobility and sustainable transport Switching to green building practices through the adoption of building energy codes

Successful implementation of waste and water management policies

Strengthen legislation to secure water quality Utilize economic instruments Implement the 3Rs in waste management Change consumption patterns to avoid waste generation

Towards Rio + 20 Elements of a Global Initiative on Cities Promote planned growth

Advocate public participation and consultation Utilize smarter growth policies (e.g. Incentives for relocation) Adopt sustainable land management

Upscale efforts on protected area expansion and species conservation

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Division of Technology, Industry and Economics (DTIE) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) 15, rue de Milan, 75441 Paris Cedex 09, France E-mail : unep.tie@unep.org Web: www.unep.fr Division of Early Warning and Assessment (DEWA) United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) P.O. Box 30552, Nairobi, 00100, Kenya E-Mail: geo-head@unep.org Web: www.unep.org/dewa