The economic case for low carbon cities

In this paper, we conduct a comparative analysis of the results of five recently completed studies that examined the economic case for investment in low-carbon development in five cities: Leeds in the UK, Kolkata in India, Lima in Peru, Johor Bahru in Malaysia and Palembang in Indonesia. The results demonstrate that there is a compelling economic case for cities in both developed and developing country contexts to invest, at scale, in cost-effective forms of low-carbon development. The studies show that these cost-effective investments, for example in building energy efficiency, small-scale renewables and more efficient vehicles and transport systems, could lead to significant reductions (in the range of 14-24% relative to business-as-usual trends) in urban energy use and carbon emissions over the next 10 years. The financial savings generated by these investments would be equivalent to between 1.7% and 9.5% of annual city-scale GDP. Securing these savings would require an average investment of $3.2 billion per city, but with an average payback period of approximately two years at commercial interest rates. The results therefore show that large-scale low-carbon investments can appeal to local decision-makers and investors on direct, short-term economic grounds. They also indicate that climate mitigation ought to feature prominently in economic development strategies as well as in the environment and sustainability strategies that are often more peripheral to, and less influential in, city-scale decision making. If these findings were replicated and similar investments were made in cities globally, then we estimate that they could generate reductions equivalent to 10-18% of global energy-related greenhouse gas emissions in 2025. While the studies therefore offer some grounds for optimism, they also highlight the institutional capacities that need to be built and the policy interventions and financing mechanisms that need to be adopted before these opportunities can be exploited. If these were all in place, initiatives to exploit the cost-effective opportunities for low-carbon development in cities could build momentum for change in cities that for a time could be globally significant. However, the studies also demonstrate that, in rapidly growing cities, the carbon savings from cost-effective investments could be quickly overwhelmed – in as little as seven years – by the impacts of sustained population and economic growth. They therefore highlight the pressing need for wider decarbonization (particularly of electricity supply) and deeper decarbonization (through more structural changes in urban form and function) if truly low-carbon cities are to emerge

Relating industrial symbiosis and circular economy to the sustainable development debate

Industrial Symbiosis (IS) is a business-focused collaborative approach oriented towards resource efficiency that has been theorised and studied mainly over the last twenty-five years. Recently, IS seems to have found a renewed impetus in the framework of the Circular Economy (CE), a novel approach to sustainability and Sustainable Development (SD) that has been rapidly gaining momentum world-wide. This opening chapter of the book provides an introduction to the concepts of IS, CE and SD, and summarizes their complex evolutionary paths, recalling the rel-evant developments and implementation challenges. In addition, the authors point out the divergences and interrelations of these concepts, both among themselves and with other related concepts and research fields, such as industrial ecology, eco-logical modernization and the green economy. Furthermore, the potential contribu-tion of IS and the CE to SD is briefly discussed, also highlighting critical issues and trade-offs, as well as gaps in research and application, especially relating to the so-cial component of sustainability. Particular attention is given to the potential role of IS in the achievement of targets connected to the Sustainable Development Goals set in the UN Agenda 2030. The recent advances in the IS and CE discussion in the context of the SD research community are further explored, with particular empha-sis on the contribution of the International Sustainable Development Research So-ciety (ISDRS) and its 24th annual conference organised in Messina, Italy, in 2018. The programme of that conference, indeed, included specific tracks on the above-mentioned themes, the contents of which are briefly commented on here, after an overview on the whole conference and the main cross-cutting concepts emerged. In the last part of the chapter, a brief description of the chapters collected in the book is presented. These contributions describe and discuss theoretical frameworks, methodological approaches and/or experiences and case studies where IS and the principles of CE are applied in different geographical context and at different scales to ultimately improve the sustainability of the current production patterns

Computing Highly Correlated Positions Using Mutual Information and Graph Theory for G Protein-Coupled Receptors

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a superfamily of seven transmembrane-spanning proteins involved in a wide array of physiological functions and are the most common targets of pharmaceuticals. This study aims to identify a cohort or clique of positions that share high mutual information. Using a multiple sequence alignment of the transmembrane (TM) domains, we calculated the mutual information between all inter-TM pairs of aligned positions and ranked the pairs by mutual information. A mutual information graph was constructed with vertices that corresponded to TM positions and edges between vertices were drawn if the mutual information exceeded a threshold of statistical significance. Positions with high degree (i.e. had significant mutual information with a large number of other positions) were found to line a well defined inter-TM ligand binding cavity for class A as well as class C GPCRs. Although the natural ligands of class C receptors bind to their extracellular N-terminal domains, the possibility of modulating their activity through ligands that bind to their helical bundle has been reported. Such positions were not found for class B GPCRs, in agreement with the observation that there are not known ligands that bind within their TM helical bundle. All identified key positions formed a clique within the MI graph of interest. For a subset of class A receptors we also considered the alignment of a portion of the second extracellular loop, and found that the two positions adjacent to the conserved Cys that bridges the loop with the TM3 qualified as key positions. Our algorithm may be useful for localizing topologically conserved regions in other protein families

Exploring the Economic Case for Climate Action in Cities

There is increasing interest in the potential of cities to contribute to climate mitigation. Multiple assessments have evaluated the scale and composition of urban GHG emissions, while others have evaluated some aspects of urban mitigation potential. However, assessments of mitigation potential tend to be broadly focused, few if any have evaluated urban mitigation potential on a measure-by-measure basis, and fewer still have considered the economic case for investing in these measures. This is a significant knowledge gap as an economic case for action could be critical in building political commitment, strengthening institutional capacities, securing large-scale finance and targeting investment and implementation in cities. In this paper, we conduct a comparative analysis of the results of five recently completed studies that examined the economic case for investing in low-carbon measures in five cities: Leeds in the UK, Kolkata in India, Lima in Peru, Johor Bahru in Malaysia and Palembang in Indonesia. The results demonstrate that there is a compelling economic case for cities in both developed and developing country contexts to invest, at scale, in cost-effective low-carbon measures. The results suggest that these investments could generate significant reductions (in the range of 15–24% relative to business-as-usual trends) in urban carbon emissions over the next 10 years. Securing these savings would require an average investment of $3.2 billion per city, which if spread over 10 years equates to 0.4–0.9% of city GDP per year. However, the savings generated in the form of reduced energy bills would be equivalent to between 1.7% and 9.5% of annual city-scale GDP, and the average payback period of investments would be approximately 2 years at commercial interest rates. We provisionally estimate that if these findings were replicated and similar investments were made in cities globally, then they could generate reductions equivalent to 10–18% of global energy-related GHG emissions in 2025. While the studies offer some grounds for optimism, they also raise important questions about the barriers to change that prevent these economically attractive options from being exploited and about the scope for mitigation based on the exploitation of only the economically attractive options. We therefore discuss the institutional capacities, policy environments and financing arrangements that need to be developed before even these economically attractive opportunities can be exploited. We also demonstrate that, in rapidly growing cities, the carbon savings from such investments could be quickly overwhelmed – in as little as 7 years – by the impacts of sustained population and economic growth. We conclude by highlighting the need to build capacities that enable the exploitation not only of the economically attractive options in the short term but also of those deeper and more structural changes that are likely to be needed in the longer term

Europeanisation and the uneven convergence of environmental policy: explaining the geography of EMAS

In this paper we seek to advance current understanding of uneven convergence in the context of EU environmental policy, and specifically, the Eco-Management and Audit Scheme (EMAS). Using a large-sample, quantitative methodology, we examine three broad sets of determinants hypothesised to influence geographic patterns of policy convergence: (1) cross-national market integration; (2) compatibility between the domestic regulatory context and European policy requirements; and (3) bottom-up pressure from market and societal actors. Our analysis provides empirical support for all three hypothesised determinants. Measures of import - export ties, regulatory burden, past policy adoptions, environmental demand from civil society, and levels of economic productivity are all found to be statistically significant predictors of national EMAS counts. Against a backdrop of geographically diverse regulatory institutions, societal conditions, and trading relationships, we conclude that unevenness is an inevitable feature of Europeanisation