Climate city
Cities are facing climate obstacles
The concentration of inhabitants, infrastructure and industry in urban areas leads to a high consumption of all kinds of resources. In cities, the consumption of energy, water and food, the CO2 emission and the production of waste and other environmental pollution are especially high, which has negative impacts on environment and climate. In order to meet the objectives of the global agreement COP 21, cities worldwide are focusing on the development of solutions for environmentally friendly urban spaces.
City leaders and urban communities work on smart processes which help reduce the negative effects cities have on the global climate. However, so called climate cities do not only focus on the protection of the environment but also develop solutions to adapt to the ongoing climate change and its impact on urban areas and their inhabitants.
Focus areas of climate cities
By reacting to climate change with measures to protect the environment and methods to adopt to changing climatic conditions, climate cities reframe threat as an opportunity. Focusing on the development and implementation of climate friendly urban solutions, they have various target areas:
- Energy: Since energy consumption is strongly linked to infrastructure, industry, food production and water security, it is especially high in urban areas. Therefore, climate cities focus on increasing the production and the usage of environmentally friendly and renewable energy such as wind and solar power. However, the problem of using natural energy sources for power production is its dependency on external conditions and the consequent intermittency of energy supply. In order to face this obstacle different storage solutions such as the implementation of liquid air are being elaborated.
- Carbon: Since the steadily increasing CO2 emission is held liable for the climate change, climate cities work on the capture of CO2 and its conversion to commercially viable products such as bio-oils, chemicals, fertilizers and fuels. In this way, emitted CO2 can be used as an efficient resource instead of being treated as waste.
- Transportation: CO2 emission is strongly linked to means of transportation such as cars, buses, airplanes and trucks and with an increasing population and growing cities also transport related CO2 emission is escalating. In order to reduce the CO2 emission, climate cities focus on the extension of carbon free transportation such as railways, bicycles and electric cars.
Adaption is as important as protection
The protection of the environment and the reduction of negative impacts on the global climate are one of the main goals of climate cities. However, the climate has already changed and will continue changing according to long-term prognosis. Therefore, another important leverage point of climate cities is the adaption to current and upcoming climate conditions. In order to adapt to the increasing temperatures, climate cities count on bringing back nature into urban areas by implementing green spaces such as parks and playgrounds which have various positive effects.
Among others, green areas in the city help reduce the urban “heat island” effect, which does not only protect the inhabitants but also minimizes the energy needed for cooling. Another positive effect of green areas is that the soil can absorb water. In this way, cities are better protected from flooding and in addition rainfall even recharges drinking water supplies.