External publications

The importance of knowledge platforms for sustainable cities

published on blog.zef.de, 22.06.2022

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Cities are playing a pivotal role in addressing the climate crisis: Whereas the majority of the world’s population is currently living in cities, United Nations Habitat expects more than 70% to be living in urban areas by 2050. More than 70% of the world’s green- house gas emissions are generated by cities. Therefore, cities will be key in addressing the urgently needed reduction of greenhouse-gas emissions by mitigation measures. While being responsible for the majority of the world’s emissions, city dwellers are still among the most vulnerable when it comes to coping with the devastating impacts of climate change. The IPCC warns in its most recent report (2022) that especially the poorest on the globe are suffering and will suffer even more from the effects of floods, storms, extreme heatwaves, as well as sea-level rise. Thus, cities are key actors for both mitigation and adaptation measures to counter the impacts of climate change