Posts in the 'Energy + Climate Change' category
Helsinki’s “mobility on demand” system will integrate a variety of transport options and could make car ownership obsolete. Photo by Justin Swan/Flickr.
Friday Fun: Two cities’ bold plans to make cars obsolete
Helsinki, Finland and Hamburg, Germany are both striving to vastly improve urban transport in less than a generation. The Helsinki Times boldly states that “the future resident of Helsinki will not own a car.” Hamburg, meanwhile, has announced a plan ...
Increasing motorization in cities across China is threatening air quality and public health, causing many to ask what reforms can combat the country's growing culture of car-dependency. Photo by ilmari hyvönen/Flickr.
Turning the car around: Decreasing high-emission automobiles is the first step to a greener China
China currently has enough roads and infrastructure to accommodate 300 million vehicles. With car ownership reaching 137 million at the end of 2013, and 74 Chinese cities already reporting pollution surging above the level deemed safe by the World Health Organization (WHO) for over two thirds ...
Mumbai, India and Smart Cities
Three key themes from the Bonn climate talks
Editor’s note: Two weeks ago, TheCityFix wrote about the need to include urban mobility as a core tenet of the Bonn climate talks. Cities are the arena in which the regulations formulated at Bonn, and passed at COP 21 in ...
The Buriganga River in the Bangladeshi city of Dhaka provides transport for the city---yet reminds Dhaka's residents of the need to build resiliency into the city as water levels rise. Photo by William Veerbeek/Flickr.
Pitfalls and potential: Climate change vulnerability in Dhaka, Bangladesh
According to the United Nations, temperatures are likely to warm anywhere from 3 to 6 degrees Fahrenheit by 2100, and scientists warn that “the world is ill-equipped to deal with the impacts of warming.” To help the lives impacted by ...
New York City, like many cities around the globe, is reshaping the design of its waterfront to be increasingly resilient to rising sea levels and an unpredictable climate. Photo by Stefan Georgi/Flickr.
Planning for Climate Change and the Urban Future
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and ICLEI, the largest worldwide association of local governments, released a study last week showing how climate change has become a priority for cities across the globe. Entitled the “Urban Climate Change Governance Survey,” ...
What future do you want? Photo by Africa Renewal/John Gillespie/Flickr.
TheCityFix’s roadmap to the Bonn climate change negotiations
From June 4 – 19, 2014, environmental leaders, policymakers, and the international climate community will descend on Bonn, Germany for the intersessional negotiation of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC). This event is a chance for leaders ...
Introducing the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities. Photo by Christian Haugen/Flickr.
Introducing the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities
TheCityFix, produced by EMBARQ, is excited to announce the launch of the WRI Ross Center for Sustainable Cities, which will focus on research, tools, and on-the-ground action to develop accessible, healthy, equitable, and environmentally friendly cities. The Center will build ...
Cities around the world seek out ways to shift, avoid, and improve their infrastructure and transport modes to decrease air pollution. Photo by WBUR/Flickr.
Right to breathe: The link between transport and air quality
Today, the highest levels of air pollutants are concentrated in developing cities, particularly in Africa, Asia and the Middle East. Motor vehicles contribute between 25 and 75% of this air pollution. In March 2014, the World Health Organization (WHO) released ...
Green spaces in cities, such as New York's High Line, promote an active, sustainable lifestyle for city residents. Photo by David Berkowitz/Flickr.
World Urban Forum highlights opportunities for sustainable cities
In recent months, popular protests have broken out in cities around the globe. The causes were different: soaring pollution in Beijing; violent gender-based crime in New Delhi; and access to public services in São Paulo. But, for each, inequality was ...
Upcoming Low Emission Transport Toolkit webinar will help planners and city leaders to plan, finance, and implement sustainable transport solutions. Photo by EMBARQ Brazil.
Transport Toolkit: Six steps to a low emission transport system
City leaders and planners weigh difficult decisions when choosing the path for their cities. When it comes to transport, they face such challenges as deciding between developing bus rapid transit (BRT) or light rail, and finding the best way to ...
Air quality and smog in China. Photo by Niccoló Mazzati/Flickr.
Air pollution in China forces short-term responses, requires long-term solutions
As severe air pollution grips Beijing, China and the surrounding region, the sharp rise in harmful particulate matter has forced authorities to consider both immediate responses and long-term strategies to combat air pollution. The current situation The height of the ...
Peru's PlanCC puts transport on the climate action agenda ahead of international climate talks. Photo by carlosfpardo/Flickr
Peru takes the lead in combating climate change through transport
The transport sector currently accounts for 22% of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and emissions from energy consumption and is the fastest growing sector in terms of overall emissions. It is also responsible for 35% of per capita CO2 emissions in Latin America and is ...
New fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for heavy-duty vehicles like buses are important in moving towards a smaller carbon footprint. Photo by Zolk/Flickr.
New fuel efficiency standards for heavy-duty vehicles are a “win-win-win”
America’s vehicles are on the road to becoming cleaner. Last week, President Obama directed his administration to set new fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions standards for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles, including large pick-up trucks, school buses, and tractors. Improving fuel ...
Cape Town, South Africa calls for increased transport demand management (TDM). Photo by Warren Rohner/Flickr.
Lessons from the C40 Mayors Summit: Scaling up solutions for resilient, livable cities
More than 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities by 2050. So cities represent the single greatest opportunity for targeted, meaningful actions that create impact on the ground, improve the quality of life for billions of people, and reduce ...
Boats anchored in a harbor outside of Qingdao, China. Photo by Li-Cah/Wikimedia.
Sustainable Cities: From a Vision to Reality
The C40 Cities Mayors Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa kicks off today. It’s the fifth biennial meeting of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, a collection of mayors from cities around the world committed to advancing urban solutions to climate ...
Right Menu Icon