Gradually Towards Climate Neutral Cities
Cities have an enormous impact on the climate, accounting for around two-thirds of the world's energy demand and creating over 70% of global CO2 emissions. As the urban areas are growing, we need to rethink cities considering all layers of the urban system such as energy, mobility, waste management, food, infrastructure, buildings and the natural environment.
Cities globally are setting climate goals and rolling out plans to reach carbon neutrality in the next decade and climate neutrality by 2050.
District level projects help citizens get used to the new approaches and technologies gradually.
Cities have a fundamental role in achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals and meeting the Paris Agreement’s goal of limiting global temperature rise to 1.5°C. An ambitious package of measures, the European Green Deal, has been set for the European cities to follow – aiming to make Europe the world’s first climate neutral* continent by 2050.
Climate Emergency, Urban Opportunity report shows that implementing low-carbon measures using currently available technologies and practices could cut 90% of emissions from cities – while delivering a significant economic return in less than five years.
Thousands of cities globally have been rolling out plans for cutting their emissions to reach carbon neutrality** in the next decade. Increasing the supply of renewable energy, creating sustainable mobility options, improving building energy efficiency and rethinking waste management are some of the measures that will make the most significant difference in lowering the cities’ carbon footprint.
* Climate neutrality - Concept of a state in which human activities result in no net effect on the climate system. (IPCC SR 1.5 Glossary)
** Carbon neutrality - (also referred to as net-zero CO2 emissions) is achieved when human-generated CO2 emissions are balanced globally by CO2 removals over a specified period. (IPCC SR 1.5 Glossary)
The City of Paris taking action
In 2018, Paris published an ambitious Climate Action Plan updating the previous versions, with a vision to make Paris a resilient, inclusive, carbon neutral and 100% renewable energy city by 2050.
Paris began working on the new climate action plan in 2016 by inviting the Parisian community to join the process involving residents, companies, scientists, who submitted more than 500 proposals for the city’s climate action plan. Since then, Paris has been introducing innovative new laws and projects to dramatically cut pollution and carbon emissions, such as car bans, thermal renovation of buildings, green roofs, electric buses and micro-mobility programs. The most recently launched program offers French citizens a €2,500 e-bike credit to trade in their old gas car.
Along with lowering the CO2 emissions, Paris is working on making the city more resilient to climate change-related effects, including heatwaves. The city’s already been creating open-air naturally cooled areas and is actively planting new trees to offer shade on the increasingly hot summer days.
District level changes leading the way
Paris and many other cities aiming to become climate neutral by 2050 have decided to implement small-scale changes first on the district level in preparation for scaling up to city-wide adoption. Transitioning away from conventional energy, transportation, waste, and other outdated systems takes a lot of time, resources and fundamental shifts in both the mindset of people and the economy. A gradual transition will help citizens get used to the new approaches and technologies step by step.
There are many testing grounds globally for experimenting with new approaches and innovative solutions when developing urban areas.
Stockholm Royal Seaport
Formerly a brownfield site, the neighbourhood-in-progress Stockholm Royal Seaport (SRS) is the largest urban development area in Sweden with ambitious environmental targets. The SRS aims to be fossil fuel-free and climate positive* by 2030, once the entire area is operational, providing at least 12,000 new homes and 35,000 workspaces.
The neighbourhood mainly focuses on energy solutions (fossil-fuel-free heating, energy and resource-efficient buildings) and green transport systems (subway, biogas-powered buses, tram, and boat buses) to meet the targets. In addition, the area will have a closed-loop waste management system.
The City of Stockholm hopes that SRS will strengthen Stockholm’s position as a leading capital in climate work – and that the neighbourhood will become an international showcase for tomorrow’s city planners with its cutting-edge sustainable solutions. The project is also a great example of urban development based on a tight collaboration between the city, the private sector and research institutions.
*Climate positive - Taking further steps to benefit the environment by saving more greenhouse gas emissions than is produced.
Estonia’s first climate neutral neighbourhood
Inspired by green city projects from all over the world and guided by the international climate goals and playbooks, we’ve set out to develop the first climate neutral neighbourhood in Estonia. We hope that our pilot project in Tallinn will guide other future city projects in the Baltic region and elsewhere.
Similarly to the Stockholm Royal Seaport, designing a district from scratch offers an opportunity to apply a whole different set of values and create a neighbourhood that’s low-carbon from the beginning.
Our goal is to build a district that is climate neutral once it’s fully functional. We will achieve this by assessing the best possible solutions to keep our carbon footprint bare minimum and creating a balance between the built and natural environment. The solutions we can apply are directly dependent on the currently available technologies. As construction, carbon capture and other technologies evolve in time, our carbon footprint gradually decreases up to the point when it turns positive, and we can start compensating for the CO2 release we previously couldn't avoid.
To achieve first carbon neutrality and then climate neutrality*, we’re combining scientific research with innovative technologies with a heavy focus on applying circular economy principles to energy, waste, transportation and other systems.
We’ll develop and test new innovative ideas, methods, and strategies for the district that can also be applied to other areas of the city. Additionally, we’ll suggest specific solutions for the city space outside of the development area to create a unified urban space – and help Tallinn meet the target to become climate neutral by 2050.
*Carbon neutrality is only a part of being climate neutral, but as carbon dioxide makes the majority of the greenhouse gases and stays in the atmosphere for the longest, it has always been considered the main culprit of global warming.
Laying the foundation
The neighbourhood will be developed in multiple stages. It will be roughly 30 years until the area of 480 000 m2 is ready. Optimistically speaking, the first buildings will be up in about three years. More realistically, it will take around five years.
Today we’re in the planning stage, mapping out the big picture. When designing a climate neutral neighbourhood model, we’re exploring the wide range of know-how and solutions available that could be implemented in the project. The overall strategy consists of many layers covering topics across the whole urban system, such as renewable energy, mobility, waste management, green buildings etc.
The project relies heavily on collaboration and scientific research. We involve experts and pioneering solutions to fill a piece of the puzzle in the big picture.
Here are some of the topics currently in the works:
Mapping the views, concerns and wishes of the people in the neighbouring area regarding the urban development of this part of Tallinn
Evaluating the future energy demand and potential solutions to meet the demand energy-efficiently
Planning district heating and cooling system based on local renewable energy
Planning local electricity generation from solar and exploring possibilities of energy generation at a wastewater treatment plant
Creating buildings 3D models in a way that maximises solar panel and vertical vegetation efficiency
Working on a sustainability assessment of green building materials and operations
Researching carbon capture technologies for possible future implementation
Mapping circular economy implementation possibilities
Assessing green urban design examples and technologies