City resilience: delaying action means profound risks to infrastructure and human life

Dr Katherine Maxwell is the Net Zero Cities Technical Director at Sweco UK & Ireland and one of the co-authors of the latest edition of Urban Insight. In this Q&A, we explore the challenges and opportunities cities face as they embark on their journeys to achieve net-zero emissions.

While many cities are still in the early stages of planning, only a few have begun implementing the necessary actions to meet their ambitious 2050 targets. Experts emphasise the importance of evidence-based strategies, inclusive stakeholder involvement and adaptive planning to ensure these goals are met amidst evolving economic and political landscapes.

When can we expect to see net zero cities on a broader scale and are the current timelines realistic?

Many cities are still at the beginning of their net zero journey, focusing on strategising for net zero and setting ambitious targets. Only a select few are actively implementing net zero actions on the ground so there’s still a lot of progress that needs to be made.

Many global cities are aiming to be net zero before 2050, which can be done but it requires a shift to focus on net zero action implementation. With the current economic crisis and international political challenges that national governments are facing, it’s imperative that cities prioritise the delivery of net zero through policies, programmes and projects.

What are the key elements that differentiate a successful net zero city strategy from one that struggles to meet its goals?

There are a variety of elements that can make or break a net zero strategy. Firstly, it has to be evidenced-based and data driven. Setting an ambitious net zero target is fine but it doesn’t mean anything if the science behind it doesn’t add up.

In other words, cities should be analysing the source of most carbon emissions (often these are from energy and transport) and identifying feasible ways to reduce these emissions.

Secondly, it’s imperative that stakeholders are involved in the decision-making process. Not just the usual suspects that already have a relationship with the city but ‘rarely asked/heard’ groups. Those who are impacted by net zero actions should always have a say in their creation. By getting local stakeholder buy-in makes it much easier for the city to implement their plans as the local community are already behind it.

Read the full blog: How to create a net zero cities strategy

Lastly, understanding that a net zero strategy is a fluid document – it’s not static. Circumstances do change nationally and locally so the plan will most likely need to change too. All net zero actions in the plan need to be feasible to implement (e.g., cost effective, reasonable timelines, clear governance frameworks, etc.) and flexible in how they are implemented (e.g., timings may change for some actions for example funding may become available for actions). A net zero strategy is a ‘live document’ that needs to be updated and reiterated.

Let’s switch gears and talk about the effects of climate change and cities’ preparedness. What advice would you give to cities just beginning to develop their climate adaptation strategies?

I would advise that cities should carefully map out potential climate hazards, their associated risks and the frequency/probability of these across the urban area. Understanding types of climate risks informs adaptation strategies that will be more effective. It’s surprising how many cities have not mapped out their climate risks in detail. The more data and information a city have the better equipped it is to address potential hazards.

It’s also important to involve local communities in the decision-making process as lower income areas within the city are often the worst affected by climate change (e.g., due to low canopy cover, lower quality infrastructure and transport connections, informal housing, lack of access to basic services, etc.). Climate risks can be ‘hyper local’, in other words, they can affect specific neighbourhoods within cities (e.g., flash flooding, precipitation) therefore communities need to be proactively involved in the developing adaption actions.

What are some of the consequences of acting too late?

If cities don’t act quickly, they will experience higher temperatures and sea level increases – a significant risk for cities as many global cities are coastal. This will have a negative impact infrastructure/assets, services and human lives. A changing climate isn’t an abstract idea, it’s currently happening and will change our daily lives limiting resources, economic opportunities and our health.

How is Sweco assisting cities during the process?

We can support cities both with their net zero strategies and their climate risk assessments. We can design strategies and identify ambitious climate actions as well as helping cities to implement them, considering issues such as costing and developing the business case for flagship net zero actions. The Decarbonisation team have both the technical carbon expertise as well as the strategic policy insight which a lot of other organisations can’t offer.