The Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities. Arab Hoballah Chief Sustainable Lifestyles, Cities, and Industry "Delivering SCP UNEP

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1 The Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities Arab Hoballah Chief Sustainable Lifestyles, Cities, and Industry "Delivering SCP UNEP

2 UNEP perspective on cities Sustainable Consumption and Production Urban metabolism City level resource efficiency The battle for a sustainable future will be won or lost in cities the World Urban Campaign

3 UNEP s work on cities Promoting the global cities agenda Managing partnerships Implementing Projects and Initiatives Mainstream the environment in the urban development debate Developing SDG for cities with UN-Habitat Providing inputs to Habitat III UNEP serves as the focal point for coordination with UN-Habitat Coordinates cities work in UNEP Other partnerships include ICLEI, C40 Cities, World Bank, Cities Alliance Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities (GI-REC) development of tools, pilot testing, replicating

4 Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities Assist cities in identifying and monitoring their resource footprint Links partners and cities interested in resource efficiency Coordinate and support the development of clear goals and targets Provides access to expertise and support access to funding

5 water energy food materials land City Target: zero emissions and waste

6 Measuring progress GI-REC has developed a toolkit to assess urban metabolism and socio-economic performance Thorough discussion with local governments, as the end-users of the toolkit Links to metrics produced by World Council on City Data Collaboration in developing urban metrics: ISO certified standard: Sustainable Development of Communities -Indicators for City Services and Quality of Life ISO

7 GI-REC in Action Review Comprehensive review - setting the foundation for future activities, ensuring that we have considered different perspectives in our approach Validate On the ground validation through workshops and interviews in the regions. It is also a time to build/strengthen partnerships for operationalization Operati onalize Piloting, Capacity building, Advocacy the real work begins with cities all over the world as we do pilot activities in cities or capacity building in specific regions

8 GI-REC in Action Review Comprehensive review - setting the foundation for future activities, ensuring that we have considered different perspectives in our approach Validate Operatio nalize On the ground validation through workshops and interviews in the regions. It is also a time to build/strengthen partnerships for operationalization we are here Piloting, Capacity building, Advocacy the real work begins with cities all over the world as we do pilot activities in cities or capacity building in specific regions

9 Resource efficiency in cities? The economic argument for resource efficiency is weak and needs to be made to convince cities to invest in it. Lack of proof that technological solutions work in practice There is confusion over the roles and responsibilities between cities, nations, and the rest of the world Poor quality of data on material flows across key sectors

10 Resource efficiency in cities? A systems approach to resource efficiency in cities is a minority among the initiatives documented with food, water, and the extraction of minerals and metals being less common areas of focus compared to the interest in energy and climate change; Innovation opportunities exist for all; just need a visionary leader/mayor, an incentive, a catalyzer; Benefits to local economies and sector (including SMEs)

11 Cities: from problem to solution In around : ¾ population ¾ resource use ¾ CO2 emissions ¾ waste Cities: hub for education/culture, innovation/investments, partnerships No solution without cities and at city level Business case, return on investment!!

12 Opportunities Sector Supply Chain Initiatives to reduce overall environmental impact of buildings, construction and urban development Understanding and promoting Decoupling in sectors and at city level, and broader application of Life Cycle Approach Building the business case for resource and energy efficiency for both buildings and cities Identifying benefits to local economies and sector (including SMEs) Scaling up partnerships such as UNEP-SBCI, Global Initiative for Resource Efficient Cities (GI-REC), UNEP-UN Habitat Greener Cities Partnership; 10YFP on SCP and the SBC programme

13 Brussels Region & GI-REC Brussels will collaborate with UNEP in shaping the standards that would be used to measure city sustainability Through UNEP, Brussels has access to a wide network of experts and like-minded institutions to share experiences and best practices on operationalizing the circular economy concept UNEP will ensure that the work of Brussels is enriched, aligned with and incorporated in global processes such as the SDGs.

14 Thank You UNEP Division of Technology Industry and Economics Sustainable Lifestyles, Cities, and Industry Branch Delivering SCP