Peter Erickson of the Stockholm Environmental Institute presents on low carbon development cases in global cities.

1. Low-carbon development in
global cities
Peter Erickson, Stockholm Environment Institute (U.S.)
Cape Town, South Africa
April 23, 2013

2. Global Context – Pathways for <2° C
Source: WBGU. 2009. “Solving the Climate Dilemma: The Budget Approach”. German Advisory Council on Global Change.
http://www.wbgu.de/wbgu_sn2009_en.pdf.

3. Cities Are Important to Global Climate
Change Mitigation
• “C40 Cities have the potential to reduce
[greenhouse gas] emissions by one full
gigaton”
 Bill Clinton, former President of the United
States, announcing SEI research for C40
Cities, Rio+20, June 2012
• “What the world needs is the same
science based foundation for cities that
the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change (IPCC) provides for nations.”
 Cynthia Rosenzweig, NASA, “Cities lead
the way in climate change action”, Nature
467 (2010)

4. What are the most significant sources
of urban GHG emissions?
• Depends on what you
count and why:
 Production and / or
consumption
 Ability to influence
 Measurability…
Source: SEI-US. 2012. Greenhouse Gas Emissions in King County.
Seattle, WA: http://www.sei-international.org/publications?pid=2026.

5. Where are the greatest (average) urban-
scale GHG abatement opportunities?
Sector Sample
Technologies
2020
Abatement
2050
Abatement
Local Influence
Energy Supply Low-carbon
electricity
Buildings &
infrastructure
Building retrofits,
design
Transport “Avoid, shift,
improve”
Industry &
goods
Low-GHG goods
Ag & food Low-GHG diets
Forestry Avoided clearing
Waste Recycling
Source: Erickson et al. 2013 (Forthcoming). Technologies, practices, and measures for GHG abatement at the urban scale. Greenhouse Gas
Measurement and Management. Work funded by C40 Cities. Note: dark circle means >5% of city GHGs. White circle <1%.
*
*

6. Transport sector analysis
Technology /
practice
Policies and
measures
2020
Abatement
2050 Abatement Local Influence
Efficient vehicles
Vehicle
registration feesLow-GHG fuels
System efficiency
(e.g., traffic mgmt.)
Traffic / demand
mgmt
Mode shift Mass transit;
road pricing
Trip avoidance Land use
planning; road
pricing
Source: Erickson et al. 2013 (Forthcoming). Technologies, practices, and measures for GHG abatement at the urban scale. Greenhouse Gas
Measurement and Management. Work funded by C40 Cities. Note: dark circle means >5% of city GHGs. White circle <1%.

7. Example Policies and Measures
• Energy Supply
 Low-carbon electricity
• Building Energy
 Retrofit disclosure requirements and financing
• Transportation
 Vehicle charges & public transport
 Combined transport and land use planning

8. Putting it all together:
Seattle example

9. Energy Supply –Examples
• Seattle (USA) has a public
electricity utility, Seattle City Light
 Divested in coal in 2000
 Committed to carbon neutral
electricity in future (but starts from
>90% hydro)
• Cities tied to national / regional
grids have it harder; common
strategy is to focus on distributed
local generation
 Sydney goal of capacity for 100%
local electricity generation by 2030
with GHG reductions of 70%
 London goal of 25% by 2025
Source: Seattle City Light. 2010. “2010 Integrated Resource Plan.”

10. Building Energy – Melbourne Example
• Mandatory energy disclosure -
Building Energy Efficiency
Disclosure Act 2010 (Australian
Government)
• Low interest bank loans
 Secured by municipal charge on
the property (improvements and
charges stay with the building);
tenants contribute
Source: Mayes, David. 2013. The opportunities and lessons from the City of Melbourne’s implementation of building energy policies. City of
Melbourne, Australia. Presentation to World Bank / CLC / C40 Workshop. April 2013.

11. Transportation – Singapore Example
• Shift to rail-based transit
 Following initial plan developed in early
1970s
 Current 62% mode share for public transit
during peak times; goal of 75% by 2030
 Expanding rail; giving buses road priority
• Quotas on total car ownership
• Financial incentives for low-GHG
vehicles
Source: Poon, Joe Fai. 2013. Transport: Opportunities and Lessons. Land Transport Authority, Singapore. Presentation to World Bank / CLC / C40
Workshop. Singapore. April 2013.

12. Transport / Land Use – Stockholm
• Building towards the city centre; using
old industrial sites
• Integrating with transit
• Integrated planning; lots of stakeholder
input
Source: Gustafsson, Thomas, 2013. Urban Planning and Climate from a Land Use
Perspective. Presentation to World Bank / CLC / C40 Workshop. Singapore. April
2013.

13. Metrics for Tracking Progress
Sector Driver Units Common local
data sources
Buildings Building energy
intensity
MJ or kwh per m2
or employee
Utilities; surveys;
city buildings
departments
Transport Vehicle energy
intensity
Liter / km or MJ /
km
Vehicle registration
departments
Share of public
transit, non-
motorized trips
% of trips by mode Local vehicle /travel
surveys
Avoided trips and/or
reduced trip length
Pkm and tkm per
resident
Local vehicle /
travel surveys
Some international default data exist; e.g. UITP, ITDP, World Bank

14. Conclusions
• Building energy, personal vehicle travel, and diet tend to
have greatest GHG abatement potential, influence
• Interactions between government, stakeholders critical
• If data are available, simple metrics can help track
progress, understand trends