I just wrapped up attending the C40 Large Cities Climate Summit as a guest of the Carbon Disclosure Project, an important group that we sponsor and partner with.
- CDP Cities and their 1st year report was showcased on the mainstage by Mayor Bloomberg and others; a mention of CDP Cities was one of the last mentions of the closing ceremonies today
- 800 attendees including executive-level delegates from 70 globally recognized cities including New York City, Austin, Toronto, Berlin, Sao Paulo, Johannesburg, Yokohama, Taipei, Hong Kong, Jakarta, Portland, and many more
- Intense discussions about Infrastructure and Urban Planning related to what Mayors do or do not control; good discussions of:
- Mass transit and transportation solutions (focus on BRT, rail, bike) – Example, Santiago Chile is building 100s of km of paved, marked bike trails through the city and an additional 40km of subway lines or more in the near future
- Urban greening (trees, green corridors)
- Infrastructure risks from climate change (water contamination, storm sewer flooding, erosion)
- Smart Grid for Water and Electric
- Building retrofit and roof whitening (NYC has 1.6B sq ft of roof space with only a few percent whitened)
- City of Melbourne, Australia had a good talk about Access to Data and Smart Grid and actually presented a 3D model of the city and discussed GIS and Planning and the need for 3D modeling for information sharing
The summit was an amazing glimpse into the activities of some of the world's leading cities in the fight against climate change. There's clearly been a lot of good activity, but there's a long road to go. Hopefully our solutions can help pave the way.