(posted from press release)
Climate-KIC will be present at the Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI) World Congress on 8 April in Seoul, Republic of Korea, to officially launch the Low Carbon City Lab programme and discuss new partnerships with cities and organisations from around the world.
Greenhouse gas emissions in cities originate from a host of different sources, such as electricity production, transportation, commercial and residential buildings, as well as industry and waste. Reducing urban emissions is a shared effort by a large panel of city stakeholders.
The new programme is part of a range of Climate-KIC programmes designed to help cities reduce greenhouse gas emissions and create new jobs for their low carbon economies. Climate-KIC is the European Union’s main climate innovation initiative and supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
Low Carbon City Lab
Cities account for 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities
PARIS, FRANCE, 31 March 2015 – With all eyes on a global deal to reduce greenhouse gasses at the UN’s COP21 conference in Paris later this year, EU initiative Climate-KIC will launch a new programme to help cities around the world unlock their emission reduction potential at a major global event in Seoul on 8 April 2015.
Cities account for 70 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions caused by human activities. According to the United Nations agency for human settlements and sustainable urban development, 75 per cent of the world population will be living in urban environments by 2050. The annual increase of the total world population is 1 per cent, while in the urban areas it is 1.8 per cent, almost twice as much. Cities will continue to be the key nexus for climate action for years to come.
Leveraging a diverse grouping of companies, research centers, technology experts, city networks and cities, Climate-KIC’s new Low Carbon City Lab programme will aim to unlock the greenhouse gas emission reduction potential of cities, and reduce global greenhouse gas emissions by 1 gigatonne per year.
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Strategies to reduce urban greenhouse gas emissions
Thanh-Tam Lê, Director of Climate-KIC’s centre in France, said “Our Low Carbon City Lab is an exciting example of how public-private partnerships can tackle climate change through both a market-led and an impact driven approach.”
The programme provides a series of tools, consulting and services to develop urban climate mitigation strategies:
- 3D software to visualise greenhouse gas emissions in cities. We also help cities bring together the data from sources across their urban areas.
- Experts to verify greenhouse gas inventories according to the recently launched Greenhouse Gas Protocol standard and to prioritise actions.
- Help to boost cities’ business generation activities including support for start-ups
- Tools enabling the monitoring of emissions from the transport sector.
- Services including training and summer schools, with courses focusing on climate finance for cities and the latest developments in greenhouse gas monitoring approaches for cities.
- Contribution to the definition of climate finance frameworks for cities (NAMAs, VNAMAs)
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