As and a habitable climate teeters, it鈥檚 understandable to feel despair.
Some of the world鈥檚 top climate scientists at the prospect of reaching 3掳C by 2100. This hellish scenario, well in excess of the 1.5掳C countries agreed to aim for when they signed the 2015 , would indeed spell disaster for much of life on Earth.
As a lecturer in sustainability, I often hear my anxious students bemoan the impossibility of building a way out of ecological collapse. However, the greatest danger is fatalism, and assuming, as claimed, that 鈥渢here is no alternative鈥�.
There is a vast ocean of possibility for transforming the planet. Increasingly, cities are in the vanguard of forging more sustainable worlds.
Car-free futures
Since the , the car has afforded a sense of freedom while infringing on the freedoms of .
Cars, particularly , are a major source of air pollution and . Motorways and have transformed Earth鈥檚 terrain and monopolised public space. For those of us in industrialised societies, it is difficult to .
Global sales of electric vehicles are projected to . Yet even these supposed solutions to an unsustainable transport sector require a lot of space and materials to make and maintain.
With cities set to host nearly by 2050, space and livability are key concerns. As such, and are beginning to reclaim their streets.
Between 2019 and 2022, the number of low-emissions zones, areas that regulate the most polluting vehicles in order to improve air quality and help to protect public health, in European cities. Research suggests that policies to such as congestion charges and raised parking fees can further discourage their use. However, providing viable and accessible alternatives is also crucial: as such, many cities are also widening walkways, building bike lanes and making public transport cheaper and easier to access.
An estimated 80,000 cars used to pass daily through the centre of , a city in north-west Spain. Mayor Miguel Anxo Fernandez Lores instituted a ban on cars in 1999 and removed on-street parking spaces. The city has since drastically reduced air pollution and hasn鈥檛 had a vehicular death in over a decade.
Living cities
Cement and concrete are to make major infrastructure such as roads, bridges, buildings and dams. The cement industry accounts for up to . Moreover, the open-pit quarrying of limestone, a key ingredient in cement, involves removing topsoil and vegetation which and increases flooding risks.
A burgeoning 鈥溾�� movement originated in in 2008 and has removed concrete and asphalt from cities including , and several cities , replacing it with plants and soil.
Depaving is an example of the wider movement which aims to restore natural habitats and expand green spaces in cities for social and ecological wellbeing.
Multispecies coexistence
A new by the World Wildlife Fund for Nature (WWF) has documented in the abundance of monitored wildlife populations globally since 1970. Despite such unfathomable losses, many cities are being transformed into .
Prized for their fur, beavers were hunted to extinction in the UK by the 16th century. Their create homes for other species such as birds and invertebrates and help prevent flooding. Eurasian beavers have been since their reintroduction in the 1920s and 1960s, respectively.
In 2022, beavers were designated a in England. , London saw its first baby beaver in over 400 years.
Melbourne has launched a project to create in the city by 2028, with at least 20 local plant species for each square metre. An 8-kilometre long is also being created to allow wildlife to travel between 200 interconnected gardens and further help local pollinators flourish.
Living alongside larger predators brings unique challenges. However, as with any functional relationship, respect is key for coexistence. Los Angeles and Mumbai are two major cities that are mountain lions and leopards. Local officials have launched public education initiatives urging people to, for instance, maintain a safe distance from the animals and not walk alone outside at night. In cases where wildlife conflicts occur, such as who have lost livestock, non-lethal methods such as wolf-proof fences and guard dogs have been found to be than culls.
Environmental justice now
Cities, particularly in wealthy countries, are only a small part of the story.
At just over 500 years old, the modern capitalist system, imposed globally through , is a relatively recent development. Despite its influence, the visionary author Ursula K. Le Guin that 鈥渁ny human power can be resisted and changed by human beings鈥�.
numbering 476 million across 90 countries represent thousands of distinct cultures that persist as living proof of the enduring possibilities of radically different ways of living.
tracks 4,189 worldwide. From keeping illegal miners at bay, to countless local communities and resisting the construction of new fossil fuel infrastructure. Over the last few years, these place-based struggles have either stopped, stalled or forced the suspension of at least .
These examples demonstrate hope in action, and suggest that the radical changes required to avert climate and ecological breakdown are often a simple question of will and collective resolve.
Reality, like the future, is never fixed. Whether the world is depends on actions taken today. The terrain ahead will be full of challenges. But, glimmers of a better world are already here.
, Lecturer in Sustainability,
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