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Cities great and small are on the frontline of climate change. Increasingly impacted by climate hazards, they also have the ambition to match the scale and urgency of the challenge, using their net zero journeys to tackle wider challenges such as pandemic recovery, the rising cost-of-living and wealth inequality.
“Cities have shown the ambition to match the scale of the net zero challenge – decarbonising at scale can lead to healthier, more equitable places whilst also strengthening the built and natural systems on which we all depend. ”
Terri Wills UKIMEA Urban Strategy Leader, Cities Planning and Design
At Arup, we partner with city leaders and urban collaborators to turn ambitions into climate impact and delivery. We bring a wealth of knowledge from partnerships with the most globally influential bodies to create a step-change in climate action, including 100 Resilient Cities, the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, World Green Building Council and partnering with C40 Cities for over ten years.
Net zero challenges and opportunities across the city
The global built environment is the source of more than a third of total greenhouse gas emissions. We see the planning and design process as a way to engage across urban systems, creating the right blend of infrastructure with low operational and embodied carbon use fit for the future. We bring net zero expertise to understand challenges and uncover opportunities across the many functions of a city.
We look through the lens of retrofit and new build, reducing energy bills and creating healthier, more comfortable buildings for people, assessing whole life carbon on any project and enabling a circular approach.
Through the lens of zero emission travel we help transport systems make the switch to renewable energy, integrating modes and prioritising active travel to tempt people away from private cars - delivering more sustainable transport. Through the energy lens, we support cities of every kind to create smarter and more resilient grids, able to meet growing demand for clean energy. Circular economy practices are well suited to benefit cities, and we facilitate both reuse of construction materials and the sharing economy to reduce consumption-based emissions.
We also recognise nature as a partner in addressing and mitigating climate impacts, and bring a wealth of applied knowledge on city resilience to help city leaders measure, manage and plan climate action at city scale, protecting the most vulnerable from climate hazards.
All of these are big structural changes related to net zero, and increasingly we help cities to anticipate economic shifts, social and technological changes in order to mitigate negative impacts and enable a just transition wherever possible.
How we can help
Net zero buildings: where do we stand?
The building industry is responsible for 38%, or around 14 gigatons, of all energy-related GHG emissions each year. This calls on the built environment industry to adopt a whole life-cycle approach to assessing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings.
The building industry is responsible for 38%, or around 14 gigatons, of all energy-related GHG emissions each year. This calls on the built environment industry to adopt a whole life-cycle approach to assessing the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from buildings.
