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Manila

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SINGAPORE, Seoul and Hong Kong are the three Asian countries to top the list of most sustainable cities, according to a new index released on Thursday.

The 2018 Sustainable Cities Index (SCI), done by Arcadis NV, an Amsterdam-headquartered global design, engineering and management consulting company, found that the three cities have ranked high overall in terms of 'people', 'planet', and 'profit', the three main factors of sustainability.

The report, which assessed 100 of the world's most prominent cities, also identified 'evolutionary cities' and thirteen 'fast-growing megacities' of which 10 'megacities' were found to be at the bottom of the people index.
SEE ALSO: How Shenzhen became China's most sustainable city
The megacities included those situated in rapidly growing economies including China and India, which were subject to high levels of inward-migration, investment in infrastructure and change.

"Cities like Mumbai, Shanghai and Shenzhen exhibit significant inequality in terms of income and access to resources and opportunity," the report said.

"Citizen experiences include high levels of informal economic activity as well as the powerful influence of enterprise - often directed by the state to deliver development and services."

The report added that citizens have little control over the way in which the city evolves but "paradoxically the models suggest that many citizens retain a sense of stability through kinship and community links highlighted by the Balanced city archetype."

"In Asia, we find a clear distinction between the well-established Seoul and Tokyo and a large group of cities in China and emerging markets."

Of 23 cities in the sample, 14 are in the bottom quartile, facing significant challenges across all pillars, the report noted.

Acadis said the performance gap affecting cities in the bottom quarter of the ranking is "particularly daunting"

"Delivering sustainable growth from such a baseline will require huge progress against the agenda set out by the UN SDGs (United Nations Sustainable Development Goals).
SEE ALSO: Engineering graduates are leading the way in sustainable development across Asia
Bearing that in mind, here are the three best and worst sustainable cities in Asia:

Best

Singapore

At fourth place in the overall index, Singapore is just behind European cities London, Stockholm, and Edinburgh. The city state is highly ranked due to its high score in one or two pillars of the index. Like Hong Kong, Singapore are in the top 10 driven by very high 'profit' rankings and middle of the road 'people' and 'planet' rankings.

The index report noted that most of the top 10 cities had high 'Planet' scores - these are Northern European cities like Stockholm and, Frankfurt which have been highly successful in combining economic prosperity and environmental stewardship.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong was among the three cities to come out comfortably on top in 'profit pillar', the index report found that the city was breaking away from other top-performing cities on transportation, ease of doing business and connectivity.

Seoul

Seoul and three European cities including Zurich all score well on ease of doing business and output, but the performance of the transport system is much more mixed, the index report said

Worst

Manila

At 93rd place, Manila faired poorly for the 'People' factor which refers to the cities' social mobility and quality of opportunity and life.

On the city's management of energy use, pollution and emissions, the Philippines capital was also lowly-ranked at 91st place.

In terms of 'profit', which is assessed for business environment and economic performance, Manila ranked 98.

Hanoi

Cities in the lowest quartile come mostly from Asia and Africa, but Hanoi comes at the bottom of the 'Planet' rankings, over legacy challenges associated limited green space, high levels of air pollution and poor waste management provision.

Kolkata

Like Manila, Kolkata is at the bottom 10 on the 'Planet' sub-index owing to the Indian city's lacklustre environmental-friendly practices.

"However, investment in low carbon technologies will inevitably be a lower priority when basic citizen needs like water and waste management still need to be fixed," the index report noted.

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Here are the top 3 most & least sustainable cities in Asia

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SINGAPORE, Seoul and Hong Kong are the three Asian countries to top the list of most sustainable cities, according to a new index released on Thursday. The 2018 Sustainable Cities Index (SCI), done by Arcadis NV, an Amsterdam-headquartered global design, engineering and management consulting company, found that the three cities have ranked high overall in terms of 'people', 'planet', and 'profit', the three main factors of sustainability.

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sustainability in small communities

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Clear Targets For Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems

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Clear Targets For Healthy and Sustainable Food Systems

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The EAT-Lancet Commission for Food, Planet, and Health released its scientific review on January 17, 2019, publishing the world's first-ever scientific targets for healthy diets and sustainable food production. The report attempts to provide targets that join civil society, public health, and environmental conservation's various goals toward health and sustainability-while outlining the urgent actions needed from consumers, policymakers, businesses, and government agencies to transform the food system.

Leading scientists in nutrition and public health- including co-chairs Johan Rockström, Professor at the Stockholm Resilience Center and Walter Willett, Professor at Harvard University's Departments of Nutrition and Epidemiology-set out global guidelines for a universal, healthy diet. This diet, on average of 2500 calories per person, suggests eaters fill half their plates with fruits, nuts, and vegetables; transition to whole grains; and moderately consume meat-expanding or limiting their diets to include meat equivalent to one small burger a week.

"The dietary recommendations made are quite accessible to individuals," says Fabrice DeClerck , EAT Science Director. "It isn't a set diet, it's a flexible diet offering a range of options that reduce health risks- this flexibility allows for multiple cultural preferences, geographic preferences, economic capacities to eat healthy diets."

"Just by going towards a diet that is good for individual health, eaters already have an impact on environment," adds DeClerck. According to the report, both consumers and producers in the global food system drive environmental harm: which, according to the Commission, does not include solely climate, but also includes biodiversity, land conversion or loss, freshwater use, and nitrogen and phosphorus pollution of waters. For example, the food system drives nearly 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, occupies 40 percent of land, and causes 80 percent of biodiversity loss, DeClerck told Food Tank.

The EAT-Lancet Commission notes the food system's environmental impact is pushing planetary limits that guarantee a stable and safe environment-if the estimated 10 billion people in 2050 maintain current Western-style diets, would far exceed planetary limits. The Commission tested whether providing humanity with healthy diets within planetary limits is feasible, or whether food security and environmental sustainability are at odds with each other.

"Absolutely, it's possible," says DeClerck, adding that shift towards healthy diets, reducing food waste and loss, and closing yield gaps with sustainable intensification will make it possible to feed a growing population of nearly 10 billion by 2050 without further food systems-related land expansion. These measures include environmental targets like reducing yield gaps by 75 percent, limiting biodiversity loss to less than ten extinctions per million species per year, and creating a downward trend for global carbon dioxide emissions caused by the food system before 2020.

"Now, we're focusing on turning knowledge to action," says DeClerck. "We've been building a strong community of practice with civil society, policy makers, and purpose-driven businesses." In partnerships with national-level governments, city-level governments, and the World Business Council, the EAT-Lancet Commission ensures these actors adhere to set targets by helping them prepare pathways, policies, and interventions toward a great food transformation.

The review marks the scientific community's first attempt to set clear scientific targets for food, defining a universal dietary standard, and specific environmental limits for food: the consensus on which had been missing. "We've been getting lost in the weeds. What we've seen is that science has become so specialized that a lot of the academic discourse and debates [about sodium, fats, and more] are really so granular that they highlight highly specific academic debates," says DeClerck. In contrast, the report's authors- spanning the health, environment, agriculture, and policy arenas-evaluate the food system with an integrative and holistic approach that pieces together a bigger picture for healthy and sustainable diets

The EAT-Lancet Commission, led by 20 Commissioners with the support of 16 additional scientists, is a partnership between the EAT Foundation and the Lancet formed to set global dietary guidelines improve health and set science targets to guide food systems toward health and sustainability. The Commission will launch the report at 30 events across the globe, with major launches in Oslo, Norway; Jakarta, Indonesia; New York City, United States; Melbourne, Australia; and Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

For more information about the EAT-Lancet Commission's report release events, .
Photo courtesy of the EAT Forum.
Join the Conversation:

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Susan H. Bragdon, Jennifer Clapp, and Olivier De Schutter

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The World Now Has Universal Health, Sustainability Targets

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The EAT-Lancet Commission for Food, Planet, and Health released its scientific review on January 17, 2019, publishing the world's first-ever scientific targets for healthy diets and sustainable food production. The report attempts to provide targets that join civil society, public health, and environmental conservation's various goals toward health and sustainability-while outlining the urgent actions needed from consumers, policymakers, businesses, and government agencies to transform the food system.

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great information about population, energy food, economy, waste, building design, etc.

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To be successful a sustainable, regenerative, symbiotic food system must not only meet the growing food needs of an increasing world population, it must also be designed to restore existing ecosystems damaged by existing high-intensity industrial, fossil-fuel-based farming, and be an ongoing and future positive contributor to the ecosystems it exists in.

We think that the following three food production strategies, implemented in a coordinated fashion, will be most likely to succeed in allowing cities to supply their populations with a sustainable food supply that both provides the necessary types and quantities of food for an increasing population size, and also does so in a way that is compatible with the world's precious ecosystems:

1. High-intensity organic indoor farming - likely hydroponics and aquaponics,

2. Ecologically sensitive "field" farming to replace existing fossil fuel based industrial farming, and,

3. Shifting the balance of protein production from both land-based meat production, and ocean and lake based wild-fish production, to aquaponic fish production, and hydroponic vegtable production.

1. High-intensity organic indoor farming:
New high-intensity hydroponic and aquaponic agriculture technologies are being developed, and old ones are being revived, which hold the potential to significantly increase food productivity while at the same time greatly reduce the ecological footprint of food production. New concepts in soilless controlled environment agriculture, such as vertical farming and warehouse farming- use only a fraction of the water and nutrients required with conventional industrial agriculture while emitting none of the toxic chemicals. At the same time, urban fish-farming techniques such as aquaponics allow for production of sustainable protein source with a very small ecological footprint.
2. Ecologically Sensitive "Field" Farming:
The development of sustainable field farming has yielded many variants. These can be roughly grouped into two main philosophical streams; one encompassing methods focused on sustainably increasing agricultural productivity (referred to as eco-agriculture) and the other on methods focused on improving ecosystem health and biodiversity (referred to as agro-ecology).

The most promising example of eco-agriculture may be "Biointensive farming". Developed at the University of California during the 1970s by Alan Chadwick and John Jeavons, this method aims to intensify agricultural yields through cultivation practices that simultaneously regenerate the fertility of the soil, thus creating both an efficient and self-sufficient food production system.

A key aspect of Biointensive farming is the practice of "double-digging", which is a two-step tilling process that results in raised, aerated beds that enable deeper root structures and much more intensive planting. Another important aspect of the concept is companion planting, which enables mutually advantageous relationships to form between the crops. Soil fertility is also maintained through plant selection, as each harvest includes a carefully balanced ratio of carbon-rich crops (used to enhance composting) with calorie-rich crops. Studies have shown Biointensive farming can increase productivity more than two-fold over traditional farming methods, while also reducing water and fertilizer consumption by more than 50% and overall energy consumption by over 90%. [see: Jeavons, J.C., (2001). Biointensive Mini-Farming Journal of Sustainable Agriculture (Vol. 19 (2), 2001) and Jeavons, J.C., (1991). How to Grow More Vegetables: Than You Ever Thought Possible on Less Land Than You Can Imagine. Ten Speed Press; Revised edition. ISBN 0898154154.]

The most prominent example of agro-ecology is known as "permaculture". In permaculture the focus is on the intensifying relationships created among elements in an agricultural ecosystem by the way they are placed together; the whole becoming greater than the sum of its parts. Permaculture design therefore aims to minimize waste, human labour, and energy by building systems that maximize the benefits between design elements to achieve a high level of synergy.

The core tenets of permaculture are: care of natural ecology and systems, care of human species, and reinvestment of surplus. These design principles, which are the conceptual foundation of permaculture, were derived from the science of systems ecology and study of pre-industrial examples of sustainable land use. Permaculture draws from several disciplines including organic farming, agroforestry, integrated farming, sustainable development, and applied ecology. [see: Mollison, Bill (1988). Permaculture: A Designers' Manual. Tagari Publications. p. 2. ISBN 0-908228-01-5; and Holmgren, David (2002). Permaculture: Principles & Pathways Beyond Sustainability. Holmgren Design Services. p. 1. ISBN 0-646-41844-0.]
3. Shifting the balance of protein production:
One of the most important changes in both method and culture required to create a regenerative symbiotic food system will be shifting the balance of protein production from land-based meat production, and ocean and lake based wild-fish production to aquaponic fish production and hydroponic vegetable protein production.

Current meat production is highly energy, fossil fuel, and water intensive and is not sustainable given the current and growing population size. The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) has documented the environmental impacts of industrial-scale meat production, and reports that livestock production is an important contributor to a number of the world's most pressing environmental problems, including global warming, land degradation, air and water pollution, and loss of biodiversity. It estimates that livestock production is responsible for 18 percent of greenhouse gas emissions, a bigger share than that of transportation. Livestock production also has a significant impact on the world's fresh water supply, accounting for more than 8 percent of global human water use, primarily for the irrigation of feed crops. Moreover, the FAO notes that livestock production, especially industrial agriculture production, is the largest sectoral source of water pollutants, principally animal wastes, antibiotics, hormones, chemicals from tanneries, fertilizers and pesticides used for feed crops, and sediments from eroded pastures. However, very positively, the FAO says that the livestock sector's potential for assisting in solving environmental problems is equally large, and major improvements could be achieved at reasonable cost.

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SymbioticCity | 5. Urban Food Production

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To be successful a sustainable, regenerative, symbiotic food system must not only meet the growing food needs of an increasing world population, it must also be designed to restore existing ecosystems damaged by existing high-intensity industrial, fossil-fuel-based farming, and be an ongoing and future positive contributor to the ecosystems it exists in.

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http://interestingenergyfacts.blogspot.com/2000/06/more-energy-articles.html

Facts about many sources of energy and their effects.

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https://www.api.org/oil-and-natural-gas/consumer-information/in-the-classroom/online-education-resources/fossil-fuel-facts

This is a good source for facts about different forms of energy.

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Provides information and statistics of energy use

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Today in Energy

The Enbridge Line 3 replacement pipeline, which delivers crude oil from Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada to Superior, Wisconsin, became fully operational on October 1, 2021, increasing the pipeline's capacity to 760,000 barrels per day (b/d). Before the replacement, Enbridge Line 3 had a capacity of about half that amount. Because the Line 3 replacement project increases the capacity to import crude oil by pipeline from Canada, this pipeline could reduce the need to ship crude oil from Canada by other modes, especially rail. More ›

Source: Map by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, using publicly available data

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Homepage - U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA)

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Today in Energy The Enbridge Line 3 replacement pipeline, which delivers crude oil from Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada to Superior, Wisconsin, became fully operational on October 1, 2021, increasing the pipeline's capacity to 760,000 barrels per day (b/d). Before the replacement, Enbridge Line 3 had a capacity of about half that amount.

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Provides examples of clean and other forms of energy.

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A clean energy revolution is taking place across America, underscored by the steady expansion of the U.S. renewable energy sector.

The clean energy industry generates hundreds of billions in economic activity, and is expected to continue to grow rapidly in the coming years. There is tremendous economic opportunity for the countries that invent, manufacture and export clean energy technologies.

Responsible development of all of America's rich energy resources -- including solar, wind, water, geothermal, bioenergy & nuclear -- will help ensure America's continued leadership in clean energy. Moving forward, the Energy Department will continue to drive strategic investments in the transition to a cleaner, domestic and more secure energy future.

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Learn about the Energy Department’s investments in clean, renewable energy technologies including wind, solar, hydro, geothermal, bioenergy & nuclear.

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Assignment: Incorporating Global Perspectives into Your Project

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Assignment: Incorporating Global Perspectives into Your Project

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10 pts. Due Mon. Dec. 3, 2018

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Incorporating Global Perspectives into Your Project

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Five Sustainable Cities Making A Difference For Our Planet 

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Five Sustainable Cities Making A Difference For Our Planet 

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The problem all these cities were facing were directly related to sustainability. In the article it explains how cities all over the world are combating these issues due to the lack of sustainability. Some of these solutions include climate plans, efficient heating/cooling systems, transportation systems, reducing water consumption, reducing greenhouse emissions , and many more.

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For centuries, cities have been at the heart of the arts and culture, thriving businesses, and innovative ideas. Over ninety percent of urban areas are coastal, which means that most cities on the planet are extremely vulnerable to the effects of the climate crisis as sea levels rise, polar ice melts, and powerful storms sweep across these regions.

The sheer number of people who live in cities now and who are expected to move into them in the coming years is startling. Around two-thirds of the world’s population is predicted to live in an urban area by 2050, which means there are also major financial implications when extreme weather like unexpected storms and flooding cause disruptions in businesses and governments.

The good news is that while cities are particularly at risk from the climate crisis, they are also behind some of the most powerful solutions. That’s why we’re taking a look at five of our favorite sustainable cities in the world and the steps they’ve taken to become leaders in clean energy and climate solutions.

1. Copenhagen, Denmark

Copenhagen is often ranked as one of the greenest cities on the planet. Why? For starters, in 2009 the city set a goal to become the world’s first carbon neutral capital by 2025 as part of its CPH 2025 Climate Plan. Copenhagen has focused on reducing energy consumption in a variety of ways, including using an energy-efficient district heating system that connects to nearly every household and innovative cooling systems that save around 70 percent of the energy compared to traditional air conditioning.

Copenhagen has also focused on reducing emissions and improving the health of its residents by improving mobility, integrating transport, and building what’s known as a super cycle highways. Super cycle highways and other bike lanes around the city have led to 45 percent of the city’s residents commuting by bike every day.

2. San Francisco, California

It’s no secret that San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area are a serious tech-hub and home to some of the most innovative companies in the world, including Salesforce, Airbnb, Uber, and Twitter. Innovations in technologies to improve energy efficiency in buildings and enhance its transportation system have helped make San Francisco a leader in sustainability and clean energy. Just look at the city’s public transit system: it’s not uncommon to see hybrid-electric buses driving down the city’s streets and more than half of all MUNI buses and light rails are zero-emission.

The Bay Area has also cut its water consumption drastically in recent years. As California has battled serious droughts, San Franciscans have reduced their water consumption to around 49 gallons of water per day on average (the national average is 80-100 gallons per day). These conservation tactics and other advances in sustainable food, recycling, and composting are expected to help San Francisco reach its goal of becoming zero waste by 2020.

3. Vancouver, Canada

Vancouver has been on the forefront of environmental activism for decades. In 1990, it became one of the first North American cities to outwardly address the climate crisis by releasing a report called “The Clouds of Change.” This was just the beginning of an environmental strategy that Vancouver released years later in 2012, the Greenest City Action Plan, which set 10 goals to achieve by 2020, including increasing green jobs, reducing community-based greenhouse gas emissions, and expanding green buildings around the city.

Additionally, Vancouver has committed to getting 100 percent of its energy from renewable sources by 2050. This goal is particularly bold given that it targets all forms of energy in the city—including heating, cooling, and transport—not just electricity. The city’s focus on clean energy and sustainability has led it to have the lowest greenhouse gas emissions per person of any major North American city. Between making sustainable improvements to neighborhoods’ energy consumption, striving for zero waste, and continuing to develop its successful Greenest City Action Plan, Vancouver has set the stage for businesses and residents to work together to be one of the greenest and most climate change resilient cities on Earth.

4. Stockholm, Sweden

Stockholm is a growing city that seeks to be an attractive home for newcomers and do good for the planet at the same time. Awarded the first “European Green Capital” recognition by the European Commission in 2010, Stockholm aims to be fossil-fuel free by 2050.

How does the city plan to reach this goal? One component is Sweden’s shift from oil to “district” heating, which means the nation now uses heat from centralized sources (such as a power station) to more efficiently heat and cool its buildings. District heating alone accounts for over 80 percent of heating and hot water in apartments today, and is one of the key factors in how Sweden has reduced its greenhouse gas emissions in recent years.

Another reason for Stockholm’s success with sustainable living is its residents, who pride themselves on being “climate-smart.” Eight out of 10 residents feel the city should urge citizens to live more environmentally-friendly and believe being climate-smart should be a natural part of living in a city (we do too!).

5. Singapore

With a population of more than five million people, Singapore is often recognized as one of the most forward-thinking green cities in Asia. The city-state has developed a Sustainable Development Blueprint, which outlines sustainability goals leading up to 2030. The targets include improving energy efficiency by 35 percent, ensuring 80 percent of its buildings are certified green, and having 80 percent of households be within a 10-minute walk to a train station.

Singapore has also improved its sustainability by making drastic changes in transportation. The city-state limits car ownership among its residents and has built effective public transportation systems, which has helped reduce pollution and crowding on streets and highways. Singapore’s public transit system helps residents navigate the city, along with biking and walking.

Learn More About Other Green Cities

These are just five examples of cities that have become leaders in clean energy and sustainable development. To learn more about additional sustainable cities and how they’re working toward solutions to the climate crisis, download the Cities100 guide. The Cities100 guide shares 100 solutions from 61 cities in 10 different sectors, ranging from clean energy to transportation to social equity and more.

Download the Cities100 guide here.

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The Alliance for Climate Protection®: Five Sustainable Cities Making a Difference for the Planet

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Discover what these five cities are doing to fight the climate crisis and improve the lives of their citizens.

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https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uBJ3rHbPBuHHFka8kn0o2CBWMVSxuUswgMceoTofAGQ/edit

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https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/sustainable-development-goals/

This website provides information from the UN of the basis of the problem and what to do for the future