{"id":240,"date":"2017-12-14T10:23:48","date_gmt":"2017-12-14T10:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theoneplanetlife.com\/?p=240"},"modified":"2017-12-14T10:23:48","modified_gmt":"2017-12-14T10:23:48","slug":"how-can-cities-reduce-their-ecological-footprint","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theoneplanetlife.com\/cy\/how-can-cities-reduce-their-ecological-footprint\/","title":{"rendered":"How can cities reduce their ecological footprint?"},"content":{"rendered":"

The last post<\/a> in this series looked at the vital role of ecological footprinting in ensuring that our individual actions are truly sustainable \u2013 i.e. within the limits of what the Earth’s resources can provide. This is called ‘one planet’ development.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This post will begin to look at how communities of varying sizes might transition to one planet living, in other words, how towns and cities can reduce their consumption levels.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"Man

Is this the future of cities?<\/p><\/div>\n

The challenge<\/h2>\n

The world’s citizens must reduce their collective footprint to one planet equivalent or face various catastrophes: out-of-control climate change, mass extinctions, famine and the death of the oceans to name but four on the agenda.<\/p>\n

The global population is now 7.5 billion and is predicted to peak at 11.2 billion by 2100 (UN). By this time up to 84% of us may be dwelling in cities. A frightening thought.<\/p>\n

Yet all around the world, many different projects and initiatives to tackle their impact \u2013 both top-down and bottom-up \u2013 are evolving, especially in urban areas, as cities gain more confidence. They are supported by a plethora of pan-global organisations such as C40<\/a>, ICLEI<\/a> and the World Future Council<\/a>.<\/p>\n

These initiatives cover most fields from energy and water to transport, buildings and industry, with the latter being particularly tough to tackle.<\/p>\n

Cities hoover up resources from the rest of the world. Unless those resources are both replenished in their place of origin and reclaimed for reuse in closed loop systems within cities, then cities cannot survive indefinitely.<\/p>\n

So it is in cities where the battle for the future will be most harshly fought.<\/p>\n

Standards? What standards?!<\/h2>\n

To help us fight this battle effectively, we need assured processes. Enter the role of standards.<\/p>\n

Standards are essentially manuals containing a set of guidelines and metrics to be followed and met in pursuit of whatever goal you’re setting yourself.<\/p>\n

There is a new standard to measure the sustainability of cities: Indicators for City Services and Quality of Life (ISO 37120).<\/a> It is being piloted as part of an integrated suite of standards for sustainable development in communities by such as Mexico City.<\/p>\n

There are many other indicators and standards for measuring sustainability: for example the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals contain a goal specifically about cities,<\/a> and there is the New Urban Agenda<\/a>, not to mention the Global Footprint Network’s Ecological Footprint Standards 2009<\/a><\/p>\n

Which standards should we use?<\/h3>\n

Standards can be relative or absolute. In other words, they can set a target of, say, a (relative) 50% reduction from a certain baseline, or an (absolute) target of, say, zero waste to landfill.<\/p>\n

Absolute targets enable comparison and ranking between different cities or projects; we can compare the performance of communities by dividing their consumption by their population.<\/p>\n

Absolute targets can also be linked to the (absolute) resources of the planet. In fact, standards must<\/u> refer to planetary boundaries.<\/p>\n

Standards should also be simple to communicate and implement \u2013 especially in relation to the gathering of the necessary data.<\/p>\n

They might be designed to make it easy automate the gathering of data from existing data collection methods.<\/p>\n

According to John Delaney of the British Standard Institute, “What option is chosen depends on what suits a city and\/or what they are most comfortable with.”<\/p>\n

Mathis Wackernagel, president of the Global Footprint Network,<\/a> says that, \u201cPerhaps the driving question becomes \u2013 what do places need to know in order to operate safely in an ecologically ever more constrained world. Cities need to have the critical information.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yn \u00f4l i Gymru<\/h2>\n

Back in Wales, the home of One Planet Development, its Well-Being of Future Generations Act<\/a> is its very own charter to make Wales sustainable within a generation or two. It uses various metrics and standards to measure this and some have yet to be decided at the local level.<\/p>\n

\"The

The seven Well-Being Goals in the Well-Being of Future Generations Act<\/p><\/div>\n

It is essentially about spending. The Act means to ensure that the spending of public money is done in a sustainable way. That is to say, it does not jeopardise the ability of future generations both to live well a<\/i> within planetary limits. The list of metrics includes:<\/p>\n