‘Cities worldwide remain vulnerable to drought, flooding; need to build strong climate resilience’
Cities across the world remain vulnerable to climate-related risks unless city leaders build robust plans to reduce these risks and increase resilience to the impacts of climate change, a new report has said, warning that by 2050, more than 800 million urban residents in get affected by sea level rise and coastal flooding and as many as 650 million could face water scarcity.
Currently, more than 90 per cent of all urban areas are coastal and by 2050, as many as 1.6 billion could be vulnerable to chronic extreme heat, up from 200 million today, a recent report by the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and McKinsey Sustainability said.
The report examined five climate hazards – extreme heat, drought, wildfire, inland flooding and coastal flooding – and identified actions directed at these particular climate risks as well as those that can help cities build systemic resilience.
There are many options and strategies, including adding coastal-based barriers like mangroves and encouraging water conservation behaviour programmes, that cities can pursue to adapt to current and future climate impacts, which can make it difficult to set priorities and determine actions to take.
Stating that climate risks vary based on city geography and profile, the report – Focused adaptation: A strategic approach to climate adaptation in cities – outlines a list of 15 “high-potential” adaptation actions that can work for many types of cities, identified based on risk-reduction potential, cost, feasibility, and stakeholder complexity.
As climate risks vary based on city geography and profile, the report outlines a list of 15 ‘high-potential’ adaptation actions that can work for many types of cities, identified based on risk-reduction potential, cost, feasibility, and stakeholder complexity.
The actions outlined in the report include planting street trees, implementing cool surfaces such as white roofs and walls, adding coastal-based barriers, like mangroves, encouraging water conservation behaviour programmes, facilitating prescribed burns in forests, enhancing financial and insurance programmes, instituting emergency protocols and early warning systems, like evacuation plans and tropical storm early warnings.
“There’s no ‘one-size-fits all’ approach to adaptation and identifying the right steps to take can be daunting,” said Brodie Boland, Partner at McKinsey and leader of McKinsey’s work on climate risk in the real estate and infrastructure sectors.
“There is limited time and resources available for cities to adapt. We hope city leaders around the world will find this report to be a useful starting point to develop their own adaptation agendas”.
Because some climate change is already locked in given existing emissions, adaptation is critical to protect the lives and livelihoods of urban residents. Additionally, as the risks from climate change increase, investments in adaptation are needed alongside mitigation efforts, especially as the world is currently not on track to meet globally-agreed targets to limit warming.
Adaptation is particularly important for protecting vulnerable populations, such as low-income communities, people with disabilities, children, minority groups, and the elderly. Members of these groups may be at higher risk from climate-related damage, and the Global Commission on Adaptation estimates that climate change could push an additional 100 million people in developing countries below the poverty line by 2030.
Previous research has shown the risks of not acting – in India hundreds of millions of people could be at risk of lethal heat waves, billions of dollars of increased damages from floods could result in Ho Chi Minh City, and homes in Florida could be devalued by $30 billion to $80 billion, among the possible consequences.
“The impacts of the climate crisis are already being felt across the world’s cities and mayors are taking the urgent steps needed to prepare for a rapidly heating world,” said C40 Cities Executive Director Mark Watts.
“The research released by C40 and McKinsey will help mayors and city leaders to make better decisions on where to focus investments and which projects to prioritise. That will ultimately mean city residents are safer, healthier and better prepared for the future.”
