Ahead of international climate negotiations at COP26, Arup and C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group have released a new guidebook highlighting the importance of neighbourhood action in tackling the climate crisis.
The guidebook - the first of its kind to offer a framework and approach for delivering net zero at the neighbourhood scale - is aimed at city authorities, developers and communities and can be applied in both new and existing neighbourhoods globally.
The authors of the guidebook urge that action at a neighbourhood level is needed to accelerate progress to net zero, warning that targets otherwise risk being missed. Rather than waiting for a top-down approach from central governments, local projects can provide an urban test bed to trial innovative approaches, including in design and construction, in the use of technology and crucially in driving the positive engagement and participation of citizens and communities.
With communities around the world increasingly witnessing the impact of heatwaves or extreme flooding, there is a need for local strategies, policies and projects that provide opportunities for direct community participation in the fight against climate change. This – of course - needs to happen in parallel with the broader systemic change being advocated for on the international stage.