Chapter 5 - Urbanisation: Toward a future balanced development and an ecological civilization

The urban transformation in China is a transition in progress, with many opportunities for guiding its future. The complexity of this transformation urgently requires integrated policies and strategies that can simultaneously address emerging challenges. As China looks at its future, a compromise between the speed and quality of urbanisation appears to be the most desirable and viable option. Some challenges are more urgent than others; decisive actions on some can make a significant impact on human development. Without strong governance mechanisms and institutions for implementation, the policies needed to act on increasingly complex urban challenges will not be successful. In China's transition to more sustainable development, new perspectives and a comprehensive understanding of the interrelationships between economic, social and environmental costs and benefits are urgently required

Investing for rapid decarbonization in cities

Cities offer some of the best opportunities for decarbonization. And a few sectors such as buildings, transport, water, and waste have the greatest potential for high impact decarbonization investments. Creating an enabling environment for cities to invest heavily to achieve systemic transformations in these sectors is essential for meeting the less than 2 °C target of the Paris Agreement in view of an urban population growing by approximately 1.4 million weekly. Unfortunately, significant barriers exist for these investments to grow at the required pace. The good news is that there are many initiatives such as the alliance of cities that have committed to achieving 80 percent reductions of GHG emissions by 2050, networks such as the C 40 network of city mayors from around the world that connect leaders and undertake research and programs to help cities implement low carbon and climate resilience strategies, and those of major private and institutional investors committed to ramp up their low carbon investments. Furthermore some 110 Paris Agreement country commitments include actions in cities with a focus exactly on those sectors with the greatest potential for decarbonization

Climate and development: enhancing impact through stronger linkages in the implementation of the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

One of the greatest achievements in the global negotiations of 2015 that delivered the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development or Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the Paris Agreement on climate change is that, for the first time, the linkages between climate and development were enshrined in each of the documents. This was done in recognition that climate change and development need to be addressed together in order not only to avoid harmful trade-offs and high costs, particularly for poorer countries, but also to exploit the benefits that come from strengthening these linkages. This review presents some of the latest data that argue for stronger linkages as well as the challenges of implementation which are not only politically and economically related but also include issues such as knowledge gaps, finance and governance. Finally, the review also presents a glimpse at the pathways that will be required to reach the ambitious global temperature targets of the Paris Agreement of less than 2°C above pre-industrial levels with efforts to limit temperature rise even further to 1.5°C. This provides the context for some conclusions and recommendations for policy-makers, including on methodologies for assessing linkages and leveraging them for greater benefit. This article is part of the theme issue ‘The Paris Agreement: understanding the physical and social challenges for a warming world of 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels’

Annex 1 - Glossary

This glossary defines some specific terms as the Lead Authors intend them to be interpreted in the context of this report

Human development, sustainability, and agency

Science for Society Brief #1, May 2023. This brief presents insights from an event co-organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), and the International Institute for Applied Sciences (IIASA) to mark the Austrian launch of the Human Development Report 2021-2022, Uncertain Times, Unsettled Lives: Shaping our Future in a Transforming World