Renaturing Our Cities For Climate Action and Citizens’ Wellbeing
Sourced from the World Green Infrastructure Network
The climate crisis requires bold and unprecedented efforts. Unless significant reductions in CO2 and other greenhouse gas emissions occur in the coming decades, the global temperature will increase above 1.5 °C and the consequences for the health of planet Earth and for humanity will be ungovernable.
The latest Assessment Report1 of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) highlights that human influence has warmed the climate at a rate that is unprecedented in at least the last 2000 years. Human-induced climate change is the cause of weather and climate extreme events across the globe. Consequently, taking decisive actionsis crucial to mitigate the risks stemming from such events.
Greening our buildings can help to tackle some of the effects of human-induced warming and the socalled urban heat island effect, while at the same time providing a habitat for pollinators, help restore biodiversity, reduce building’s energy consumption and accelerate the transition to renewable energy.
Greener cities also allow to reduce noise and pollution, and to improve citizens’ physical and mental health. Interweaving green infrastructure with the built environment contributes to limiting further urbanisation, which according to the IPCC report will increase the severity of heatwaves as well as heavy precipitation and resulting runoff intensity.
The built environment is a core area of the Union’s decarbonisation efforts in the next ten years. We believe that green infrastructure, with the support of the right legislative framework, can play a key role both for climate mitigation and in supporting urban areas to adapt to a changing climate. With urban population projected to further grow in most European regions hosting major cities, investing in the switch from grey to Blue Green Infrastructure (BGI)4 must be a priority to renature our cities, reduce their carbon footprint and improve the health and wellbeing of their residents.
From the Living Architecture Monitor
