Cities consume a lot – and can do a lot MEP Satu Hassi Greens/EFA Open Days 11 October 2011.

Cities consume a lot – and can do a lot

MEP Satu Hassi

Greens/EFA

Open Days 11 October 2011

Sustainable growth for all

• Demand for resources growing fast– Global population to reach 9bn by 2050– Major of global ecosystems already used

unsustainably– Food price peaks, depleting water resources– Increasing impacts of climate change

• Impacts of Europe’s resource imports on third countries– CO2 emissions, land grabbing, degrading ecosystems

Europe uses more than its fair share

• EEA: “An average European citizen uses about four times more resources than one in Africa and three times more than one in Asia, but half of that in the Unites States, Canada or Australia”

• An EU citizen uses on average some 16 tonnes of material resources per year – 6 tonnes of waste per capita is generated annually

• At lest 1.7 tonnes per capita CO2 emissions are externalised in the EU as they are embodied in imports (Eurostat)

Domestic and global CO2 emissions, production perspective EU-27 2006

Source: Eurostat

Use of material resources and material productivity EU-15 and EU-12

Source: EEA, 2011

The interrelation between resource use and

income 2000

Source: UNEP, 2011

Global ecological footprint

• Today the humanity uses the equivalent of 1.5 planets to provide the resources used– If everyone consumed as an average

European, we would need more than 2.5 Earths

– If everyone lived like an average Indian, we would use less than half the planet’s biocapacity

Ecological creditor and debtor countries 2007: ecological footprint of consumption compared with

domestic biocapacity

Source: Global Footprint Network

Ecological creditor and debtor countries 2007: ecological footprint of consumption compared with

globally available biocapacity

Source: Global Footprint Network

Ecological footprint and population by region 2007

Source: Global Footprint Network

Roadmap to a Resource Efficient Europe

• Lacks clear targets and concrete measures– Resource efficiency targets postponed to 2013– Voluntary “milestones” unlikely to deliver

• Proposed “resource productivity indicator” is not a comprehensive tool to measure Europe’s resource use – Indicators to measure land, water and carbon

footprints must be developed without delay

Cities mean more than half

• UN: Cities account for 70 % of global greenhouse gas emissions – Half of the world’s population currently lives in

urban areas– UN projects this will reach 60% by 2030– Cities consume three quarters of all natural

resources

Urban solutions

• Cities as centres for innovation

• Municipal authorities empowered to tackle key problems– land-use planning, waste collection and

recycling, energy generation, urban transport

• Behavioural change can be promoted near the citizen

The business case

• Europe most dependent region on imports of raw materials

• Study for UK government found no cost or low cost investments in resource efficiency could save £23 billion a year

• Job creation– Renewables, energy efficient technologies,

recycling, ”urban mining”, etc.