About this Discussion

Urban centres provide opportunities for a range of social and cultural activities, as well as being critical for innovations in science, technology and education. They are also of critical importance for social and economic development. However, with approximately 40% of global energy use taking place within city buildings, this sector is also the single largest contributor to global greenhouse gas emissions.

As a result, the design and use of energy and resource-efficient buildings has a key role in climate change mitigation to accelerate the global green economy transition. Although vast savings are possible by constructing new green buildings and retrofitting existing buildings, even greater gains can be achieved by adopting a long-term life-cycle approach involving stakeholders at different stages – from environmentally-minded investors and architects, to sustainable extraction, construction and usage, and the eventual demolition and the recycling or disposal of the building materials.

Cities are well-placed to play a major role in decoupling economic development from resource use and environmental impacts, while finding a better balance between social, environmental and economic objectives. Resource-efficient cities combine greater productivity and innovation with lower costs and reduced environmental impacts, offering at the same time financial savings and increased sustainability.

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Cities and Urban Development

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United Nations Environment Programme(UNEP), Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia(COBSEA)

Background SEA of Solutions is an annually occurring partnership event towards solving plastic pollution at source, convened by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the Coordinating Body on the Seas of East Asia (COBSEA), through the SEA circular project supported by the Government… Read More

Contributing to food security in urban areas: differences between urban agriculture and peri-urban agriculture in the Global North

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http://www.fao.org/fsnforum/resources/fsn-resources/contributing-food-security-urban-areas-differenc...

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http://oe.cd/il/3kZ

A new guide to help cities set science-based climate targets in line with the global 1.5-degree C goal. This is the first product for cities under the Science-Based Targets Network (SBTN) that gives cities a clear pathway to competitiveness and resilience by using science to define their role in restoring nature.

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https://sciencebasedtargetsnetwork.org/resources/climate-tools-for-cities/

Introduce an interesting researcher: Outi Luova University Lecturer, Centre for East Asian Studies, University of Turku.
She is interested in environment performance and environmental education in the context of urban design and development in East Asia. As a Finnish national she can use English, Chinese, Swedish and German to work and research.

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