Neo Gim Huay, Managing Director, World Economic Forum, Special Advisor, CCICED, and Dirk Messner, President, German Environment Agency, Council Member, CCICED
Humanity stands at a critical juncture. Whether in the areas of climate change, biodiversity loss and species extinction, ocean acidification, freshwater use, or the phosphorus and nitrogen cycles, we are at what scientists have described as the “planetary limits.” Beyond these limits, the earth system will lose the stability of the Holocene period, upon which modern society is built, and shift irreversibly to a different state.
For governments and businesses, the climate and nature emergency is exacerbated by geopolitical tensions and social divides, as well as economic uncertainty, creating a complex and turbulent operating environment that the world has not yet experienced. There are escalating risks that economies and societies could experience a significant backslide in the progress in human development that has been achieved thus far, with massive losses and widespread human suffering over the next decades.
This poly-crisis calls for collective action, constructive partnerships, and visionary leadership to marshal the policy tools—both financial and business—as well as the necessary technology to effectively transform production and consumption patterns and build a global economy that achieves the triple bottom line of people, planet, and prosperity.
The geo-economic dislocations wrought by the poly-crisis represent an opportunity for governments, businesses, and civil society to inspire hope and action, develop new solutions, and collaborate to restore humanity’s harmony with nature–fostering a net-zero, nature-positive future that provides better living opportunities for all.
Cities are at forefront of the fight against these crises. More than half of the world’s population currently lives in urban landscapes—and these numbers continue to grow. By 2050, more than two-thirds of the world will live in cities. Over 70% of global carbon emissions are being generated within cities, and cities account for 75% of natural resource consumption.
Urban transformation toward sustainable, inclusive, and resilient communities is critical for delivering a net-zero and nature-positive future. This can be enabled and accelerated by digital and green technologies, including renewable energy and electric mobility, technologies for zero-carbon residential heating (such as heat pumps), carbon capture, utilization and storage, green-hydrogen-based fuels, and industrial electrification. Similarly, nature-based solutions could enhance existing natural or human-made infrastructure and spur economic, social, and environmental benefits.
The Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies (including artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and blockchain) have additional potential to catalyze nature-positive, net-zero transformations. These technologies can provide insights for optimizing energy use and enhance resource efficiency, enabling a more circular and resilient economy. Likewise, data monitoring and measurement can be used to better assess natural capital and enable regulatory compliance and enforcement.
Cities worldwide are piloting these technologies. The CCICED Special Policy Study on Green Digitalization’s case studies in Beijing, Ordos, Helsinki, and Vienna seek to illustrate the link between technological progress and sustainable economic practices at an urban level.
Notably, these cities have well-designed policies with clear indicators and representative public–private partnerships. They have also adopted a holistic systems lens to fully integrate economic, environmental, and social considerations.
These cities are also active in forging international partnerships to enable knowledge sharing and learning regarding best practices and innovations. These efforts serve to raise global ambition, illustrating the pathways forward to achieve net-zero and nature-positive goals.
Finally, leadership is essential for these transformations, and at the speed and scale necessary—and commensurate—with the challenges at hand.
The views expressed are those of the article authors and not necessarily those of CCICED.