16 projects on six continents will attempt to demonstrate sustainable urban development strategies, as part of a new initiative launched today by the Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) and the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC).
The Climate Positive Development Program centers around urban real estate developments that will strive to reduce the amount of on-site CO2 emissions to below zero.
Last year, for the first time, half the world’s population (3.2 billion people) lived in cities, and that figure is expected to grow to 70% by 2050. Cities occupy just 2% of the world’s landmass, yet are responsible for more than two-thirds of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions. How cities change and grow is therefore a critical component to tackling climate change, compounded by escalating infrastructure, energy, and health and human services costs.
“As the Earth’s population increases and our cities grow, we need to ensure we have the models in place to sustain our way of life in an increasingly urbanized world,” former U.S. President Bill Clinton said. “The Climate Positive Development Program will set a new global standard for developments that will minimize environmental impacts and benefit economies as we build and rebuild homes, schools, and businesses.”
To reduce the net greenhouse gas emissions of these projects to below zero, property developers and local governments will agree to work in partnership on specific areas of activity. This includes implementing economically viable innovations in building, the generation of clean energy, waste management, water management, transportation, and outdoor lighting systems.
When the initial 16 projects are completed, nearly one million people will live and work in Climate Positive communities, according to a release.
These communities will be located in: Melbourne, Australia; Palhoça, Brazil; Toronto, Canada; Victoria, Canada; Ahmedabad, India; Jaipur, India; outside Panama City, Panama; Pretoria, South Africa; Johannesburg, South Africa; Seoul, South Korea; Stockholm, Sweden; London, UK; San Francisco, USA and Destiny Florida, USA.
The Climate Positive Development Program will support the planning and implementation process for each real estate development and establish the standards and metrics by which the sites can measure climate positive outcomes.
Destiny, Florida, which dubbs itself as America’s first eco-sustainable city, is one of the 16 founding projects.
Destiny, Florida will be developed in Osceola County in Central Florida. Whether we need a new city is very questionable, but plans are moving forward for a 41,300 acre green city (over 64 square miles) about an hour south of Orlando. The developer’s goal is for energy demand to be at least half of the average city. It will have about 25,000 acres of preserved land.
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Seems like a very ambitious project! It would be interesting to learn of the magnitude of the investment and its timeframe; for its goals of net negative carbon emissions for an aggregated one million people will require significant investment and public policy changes. Its more than just swapping out light bulbs. This type of change requires collective buy-in and engagement among residents. I am curious to see how this will occur. At the University of Vermont’s Institute for Global Sustainability (http://learn.uvm.edu/igs), students participate in service learning classes designed to explore how such projects can be brought to fruition – the Clinton Climate Initiative is certainly worth exploring further.