This new report by the Boston Green Ribbon Commission, staffed by INC’s John Cleveland, analyzes, quantifies, and prioritizes strategies and actions for reducing GHG emissions and explicitly addresses the potential impacts of different policies on social equity. From the report introduction: “The report’s analysis makes clear the great…
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The recent IPCC report concludes that to avoid the worst effects of global warming, the entire global economy has to plan to reduce emissions by 45% by 2030 and 100% by 2050. These targets are consistent with the targets set by most of the cities we profile…
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The spreading and evolving efforts of cities to reduce GHG emissions have proceeded through three stages in the past three decades: Decarbonizing Emissions, Emphasizing Co-benefits, and Seeking Transformation. In Life After Carbon, we describe the emergence of urban transformation. From Chapter 6: As climate innovations proliferate in…
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These pioneering cities are trying, in just a few decades, to eliminate fossil fuels from their immense, complex systems and prepare to handle the grave impacts of climate change. A city innovation lab isn’t a facility with highly controlled conditions; it’s the entire city–the complex, real urban world with…
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Even as cities have taken over the world–sheltering half of humanity, producing most of the economic output and GHG emissions, and beginning to supplant nation-states as leaders of practical and innovative governance–they have become the setting for massive, radical redesign. The “century of the city,” as…
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Global cities that are committed to some version of carbon neutrality by 2050 have a daunting set of challenges to figure out. Chief among these is how to eliminate the use of natural gas as a fuel for electricity generation and building heating. In most cities,…
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