'Involve citizens, businesses for sustainable cities'

A sustainability expert from the US on Thursday stressed on the importance of involving citizens and businesses in making cities greener.

At ‘Greenovate Bengaluru’, an event organised by BPAC and the US Consulate to exchange ideas between India and the US on the best practices to make cities sustainable, Leah Bamberger, director of sustainability for the city of Providence in Rhode Island, said, “When our President withdrew from the Paris climate agreement, local governments stepped forward and pledged to continue their efforts to achieve the climate change goals. Cities are emerging as leaders, filling the void of leadership in the federal government,” she said.

Bamberger spoke about how in US, they prioritise involving citizens and businesses in the development of the city’s sustainability goals and plans.

“After all, they are the ones who have to adopt the practices which will make the city sustainable,” she said. Bamberger said the first step was to understand the source of the city’s carbon emissions. “In Providence, we realised 70% of carbon emissions were from buildings and the remaining from transportation. Now, we are trying to cut down municipal energy use of buildings by 30% by 2030,” she said.

She emphasised the importance of transparency, sharing data with citizens on the progress that is made. In Providence, they use indicators such as energy used by buildings, net gain in number of trees, and others.

“Cities in the US are focusing on reducing use of cars, removing highways and creating better spaces for walking and cycling,” she said.

Anil Shetty, president of Nav Bharath Democratic Party, who had been to the USA on an exchange programme to study best sustainability practices, shared his experience.

“I was struck by the approach Americans use to solve their problems. They take each and every stakeholder into confidence. We need to adopt this in our country,” he said.

He pledged to work to make Bengaluru an inclusive city, where humans can live alongside include birds, animals and trees.

DH News Service