The European Environment Agency (EEA) has published a new report entitled "˜Urban adaptation to climate change in Europe 2016 "“ transforming cities in a changing climate'. The report provides an in-depth overview of the actions that urban planners and policymakers can take to reduce the impact of climate change, and stresses the benefits of investing in long-term preventive measures. ICLEI Europe is a co-author of the report and also supported the EEA in coordinating its production.

European cities are increasingly susceptible to the negative aspects of climate change, which are expected to increase in frequency and intensity with extreme events such as heatwaves, flooding, water scarcity and droughts. At the same time, social, economic and demographic changes can make cities more vulnerable. These can greatly impact a wide range of city functions, infrastructure and services such as energy, transport and water, and will affect urban quality of life.

The report recommends that to meet these challenges, cities must take a wider systemic approach that addresses the root causes of vulnerability to climate change. This includes better urban planning, with more green areas that can retain excess rainwater or cool dense city centres in hot weather, or by preventing the construction of houses in flood-prone areas. This approach can transform cities into much more attractive, climate-resilient and sustainable places to live and work.

For more information and to read the report, visit eea.europa.euImage copyright: France-003203 - Tuileries Garden (Flickr) by "Dennis Jarvis", licensed under CC BY SA 2.0 more   18 July 2016 Montreal joins global sustainable procurement networkMontreal (Canada) has signed the commitment to join the Global Lead City Network on Sustainable Procurement, a group of 13 cities who are committed to driving a transition to sustainable consumption and production by implementing sustainable and innovation procurement.

Montreal has already in place a Community Sustainable Development Plan, with the objectives of reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving air quality, consuming less water, improving the quality of runoff water, recovering waste, and improving its green infrastructures. The plan also aims to make Montreal a leader in the green economy and increasing the environmental certifications that they have. Aside from purely environmental goals, the plan also has a number of social objectives such as keeping families in the city, showing solidarity, demonstrating equity and handling succession planning.

Furthermore, the STM (Société de Transport de Montréal) released its sustainable procurement tools to the public domain. The public corporation aims to have 90 percent of its contracts include sustainable development criteria by 2020. In 2014, the STM consolidated its sustainable procurement approach by publishing guidelines and two handbooks to facilitate the application.

For more information, visit glcn-on-sp.org more

» Publication Date: 19/07/2016

» Source: Iclei Europe

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