Programmes
Climate Action Co-Benefits Toolkit
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Step one – face up to the consumption crisis
When most cities measure their carbon impact, they don’t
fully account for the emissions created elsewhere by the things they consume.
It’s much easier to make this embodied carbon someone else’s problem.
But we should be learning from cities like Portland in the
US, which is pioneering new methodologies that measure the entire value chain
of a product or service. This gives you have a fairer picture of a city’s
impact, and creates a platform for everyone – from residents to public bodies
to the businesses that supply them – to work together to solve the problem.
What does this mean in practice? Well, we all expect new buildings
to be energy efficient, with minimal use of energy for heating and lighting.
But manufacturing any new building produces a lot of carbon, however ‘green’ the
finished structure is. So shouldn’t cities use new retrofit techniques to make existing buildings more efficient?
The same goes for cars and vans – even electric
ones. While these are better than high-pollution models, our top priorities should include bold schemes that get more people cycling and walking – as well as encouraging them to share cars and car journeys.