GCP CanberraHow Do Cities Drive the Global Carbon Cycle? Session at Earth Systems Science Partnership (ESSP) Conference
Session Abstract
Cities are contradictory players in the development arena. On the one hand urban areas are major foci driving transformations of the carbon cycle and the climate system (e.g. transportation; household cooling/heating). On the other hand, cities are centers of social, cultural, economic, and technological innovation. Changes in preferences and lifestyles of urban dwellers can stimulate transformations in consumption behavior and technological development to curb atmospheric emissions, and stabilize greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change. As the growing world population becomes even more urban in the coming decades, the importance of the way cities develop and are managed for GHG emissions and associated pollution will become a central point of intervention for addressing climate change. But how do cities drive carbon emissions? What is the influence of factors such as demographic dynamics, lifestyles and governmental policies? The goal of this session is to invite both natural and social scientists to answer these questions, with the idea of finding how can cities lead the way to de-carbonization.
Contact
Patricia Romero Lankao (prlankao[AT]ucar.edu)
