Cities are energy-hungry, climate hotspots but when they become greener you see immediate benefits for the climate, the environment and those that live there.
Cities are both in the front line of increasingly extreme weather events such as heatwaves and floods, and major sources of the pollution that pushes climate breakdown. But green a city, and you help to make it more climate-proof and take the pressure off global warming. Once steps are taken to green cities, a host of other benefits emerge. The air becomes cleaner, reducing childhood asthma and a host of other lethal health complaints directly linked to dirty air. By involving a wide range of people in the process, cities can benefit from their knowledge and ideas to make greener cities work for everyone.
Shifting away from the dominance of polluting, private cars toward clean mass-transit systems makes our streets and neighbourhoods safer places to play, and more peaceful for all residents. Living streets bring communities together too. Urban growing can rebuild a relationship between people and real food, make a shift to better diets easier, and also bring people together.
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Story of change
Food waste is a climate emergency issue: how to chop it across the boardFood waste is alone responsible for an estimated 8% of annual greenhouse gas emissions globally, equal to the amount from tourism. Cutting it back not only...
Story of change
From passive consumers to active producers – how crisis restrictions open opportunities for creative culture shiftsAs the global pandemic continues to reshape whole economies and the lives of populations, normal consumer behaviour has been suddenly altered. The focus has...
Commentary
Given Half a Chance: Ten Ways to Save the WorldEnvironmentalist Edward Davey’s new book, Given Half a Chance: Ten Ways to Save the World shows how little it would take to set a rapid transition in...
Report
How did we do that? The possibility of rapid transitionA booklet which collects stories of rapid transitions to show what we can learn from history and the present day about how people adapt to rapid change.
Story of change
How does your city grow? Lockdown illuminates urban farming and gardening’s potentialThe lockdown and threat of a global pandemic has turned a lot of people who previously may have depended solely on supermarkets for their food into...
Resource
Lessons from Lockdown: More space for people and natureResponses to the coronavirus pandemic showed that we can quickly make more space for people and nature in our towns and cities. This briefing on lessons...
Story of change
Local, civic action is growing a climate revolution from belowIn the yawning gap between national action and what is needed to stop climate breakdown, a rapid rise of local and city level activism is growing a...
Story of change
Migrants welcome – how international hospitality in a warming world benefits everyoneMany millions more people will be forced to flee their homes in a world experiencing climate breakdown. Some will move within national borders, many others...
Story of change
Reclaiming power: The rapid rise of community renewable energy and why the added benefits of local, clean power can help accelerate transitionRenewable energy is on the rise. It made up more than a quarter of global electricity generation (27%) in 2019 and is outpacing all other energy sources’...
