Home to the majority of the world’s population and energy demand, cities are the engines of many world economies and are crucial players in the race to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. While local governments are already demonstrating strong leadership in adapting to the impacts of climate change and mitigating emissions, the scale of the global climate challenge will require more progress on clean energy.
Any discussion on how cities will take the next steps towards renewable energy and resiliency will require private sector as an integral partner. In many cases, it is the private sector that is financing, developing, and managing the energy generation, building, and transportation infrastructure and systems that allow cities to function.
At GLOBE 2016 in Vancouver, the Renewable Cities team convened a panel discussion called “Zero Emissions, Big Business: How Can the Private Sector Help Cities Deliver on the Promise of Paris?” The event, which took place on March 2, 2016, brought together some diverse and leading voices to explore how cities and businesses can better support each other towards promoting renewable energy and urban resiliency.
Moderated by Renewable Cities’ Executive Director Michael Small, we convened the following individuals to offer thoughts at our session:
- Katie Walsh, Cities Manager, North America, CDP
- Brian Geller, Senior Vice President, Corporate Sustainability, Citi
- James Alexander, Head of Finance & Economic Development Initiative, C40
- Elizabeth Yee, Vice President, Strategic Partnerships and Solutions, 100 Resilient Cities
- Pekka Sauri, Deputy Mayor, City of Helsinki, Finland
SESSION REPORT—ZERO EMISSIONS, BIG BUSINESS: HOW CAN THE PRIVATE SECTOR HELP CITIES DELIVER ON THE PROMISE OF PARIS?
We have released a report that captures the ideas generated and conversation from the session. Download in PDF format.
Featured image courtesy of Flicker User mariano-mantel