Cities and Climate Change

Dr. Kevon Rhiney,

Department of Geography & Geology,

University of the West Indies.

GEOG3302: URBAN & REGIONAL PLANNING

Tuesday April 3, 2012

Introduction

“Despite the lack of consensus as to the exact pace, it is generally accepted that climate change is happening now, that anthropogenic emissions are contributing to this climate change, and that humanity can dramatically mitigate the impact of climate change by seriously reducing greenhouse gas emissions”

Introduction

• The average global temperature has increased by 0.76°C and sea level has risen by 17 cm since the 19th century (IPCC, 2007).

• Climate change will also bring about alterations in climate variability and extreme events.

• Vary on temporal and geographical scales

- Range DIRECTLY from drought to flooding, more heat waves, increased in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events

- Indirectly, decreases in food production, freshwater availability, ocean acidification etc.

Introduction

• Developing countries are likely to bear 75 percent of the costs of damages produced by climate change

• SIDS are the most vulnerable despite contributing the least to Climate Change

• Economic growth will not be able to counter the danger of climate change, especially if growth remains linked with increased emissions and accelerates climate change.

Population Matters??!!

• Pop dynamics critical for understanding the trajectory of global greenhouse gas emissions, and developing and implementing adaptation plans

• Population dynamics links into both cause and consequences of climate change

• Population long been focal point at discussions surrounding global environmental change

• Climate Change has risen to the top of the international environmental agenda in last 15 years

Urban Vulnerability to Climate Change

Climate Change poses serious threats to urban infrastructure, quality of life, and entire urban systems.

> 50% of worlds‟ pop live within 60km of the sea; 75% of all large cities are coastal

Developing countries are particularly vulnerable

Majority of the world‟s urban population live in vulnerable and ill-equipped environments

- 1 billion live in slums; likely to become environmental refugees

Urban Vulnerability to Climate Change In Europe, 70 percent of the largest cities have

areas that are particularly vulnerable to rising sea levels, and most of these cities less than 10 meters above sea level.

Fifteen of the world‟s 20 megacities are at risk from rising sea levels and coastal surges

Port cities in developing countries are particularly at risk of sea level rise

The IPCC (2007) predicts a rise in average sea level over the next 100 years ranging between 13 to 28 centimeters in a low scenario and 26 to 59 centimeters for a high scenario

Since CC will

undermine

countries’

efforts to

achieve SD

goals,

adaptation is

urgently

needed

Climate is

already

changing and

most

countries

don’t have

the adaptive

capacity to

respond

Already feeling the effects??

In 2003, more than 70,000 people died in Europe from a severe heat wave (World Bank 2009); mostly the elderly

Hurricanes, Flooding, Drought…

Cities and Climate Change

Adaptive capacity = wealth + available technology + appropriate decision-making capabilities + human capital + social capital + risk spreading (insurance) + management of information.

CC aggravates existing environmental, social and economic problems.

These changes will affect different aspects of spatial planning and the built environment.

Cities as Culprits??

Major contributors to Climate Change; cities are responsible for 75—80 per cent of all such emissions

Rapid Urbanization; Growth of megacities

Urban agglomerations major consumers of energy

Cities as the Solution

Better family planning; more urban means less growth

Cities as models of environmental efficiency,

Cities can reduce their per capita greenhouse gas emissions through consuming cleaner energy for instance

Sufficient scale to bring about meaningful actions.

Climate Change and Spatial Planning

Structural integrity of buildings; building fabrics; service infrastructure; use of open spaces

Rates of urbanization; institutional capacity; financial capacity

The role of local government authorities

- Usually overlooked in the articulation of action plans

- Yet CC impacts are „felt‟ at the local level

- Participatory governance

Environmental justice Concerned with how environmental „bads‟ and

„goods‟ are distributed across society Concern over (i) the equity of environmental

management interventions and (ii) nature of public involvement in decision-making

Poverty & the environment; Political ecology (see Dodman)

Ecological Footprint Method of auditing human use of nature in

relation to the assessed biophysical constraints of the globe as an indicator of sustainability

Carrying capacity

Biological

- Genetic diversity

- Resilience

- Biological productivity

Social system

- Cultural diversity

- Institutional sustainability

- Social justice

- participation

Economic

- Reducing poverty

- Enhance equity

- Increasing useful

goods & services

Objectives of Sustainable Development

Complex inter-

dependencies

Recognition of the

cost involved for

particular interest

groups

Sustainable Development & Cities

• Rising concentration of the world‟s pop. in urban centers presents a challenge to SD

• Urbanites are more dependent on markets for food, basic needs and services than rural dwellers

- Any threat to income have more profound impacts on poverty

- Low-income groups in developing world cities face substantial environmental health risks

- Inadequate sanitation, poor water supplies, poor housing conditions.

Sustainable Development & Cities

These problems are mediated e.g. through class, race and sex/gender differences

A laborer in Dhaka, Bangladesh

Sustainable Development & Cities

Cities and environmental issues

- 60% of the world‟s GNP is produced in cities

- Avg. each city of 1 mill. people daily consumes 625,000 tonnes of water, 2,000 tonnes of food & 9,500 tonnes of fuel

- Similarly, generates 500,000 tonnes of waste-water, 2,000 tonnes of solid waste & 950 tonnes of air pollutants

- Egypt, more than 10% of farmland has been lost to urban encroachment

Sustainable urban development

Cities cannot continue to prosper if the aggregate impact of their economies draws on global resources in unsustainable ways

Cities contribution to Global Climate Change

A need for social and environmental justice

Urban poor are the most vulnerable

IIED reports; BBC‟s „hot cities‟