With their last report "Take the heat", Goldman Sachs analysts are producing an interesting piece of research about how cities can address climate change.
Cities, and more decisively coastal cities such as New York or Lagos are on the front line of climate adaptation. "Because they are home to more than half the world’s population and generate roughly eighty percent of global GDP, cities will find themselves at the epicenter of this challenge. Rapid urbanization in some developing countries will also likely sharpen the focus on cities". That is why the way cities will react is critical. There is still uncertainty about the timing and scale of the impact of climate change, but cities need to anticipate, have a contingency plan, start doing extensive urban planning and think about how to finance these heavy investments "in coastal protections, climate-resilient construction, more robust infrastructure, upgraded water and waste-management systems, energy resilience and stronger communications and transportation systems".
The report concludes it might also raise a question of fairness between the cities that can afford it and those who can't. And even within the cities that can invest, where should the priority effort go, to which areas?
The full report is available here:
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