When I was working as a journalist in Peru in 1999, I saw the devastation of the 1997-98 El Nio first hand. Heading north from Lima, the flood damage to homes was clearly visible. Large sections of road were cut off by landslides, buildings were turned to rubble and cultivated fields were laid to waste.

Rising sea surface temperatures suggest that another El Nio is on its way. The UN's weather agency, the World Meteorological Organisation, says there is a 60% chance of it starting before September this year. An El Nio event usually happens every five years, but a severe one hits every 15 to 20 years. We are due for another.

The El Nio Southern Oscillation, to give it its full title, is characterised by higher water temperatures in equatorial regions of the Pacific Ocean, which leads to changes in wind patterns. This has widespread effects, from higher-than-normal rainfall in the Americas, to droughts in India and Australia, to heavy snowfall in the UK. If a severe El Nio hits this year it would bring heavy rainfall to South America in December. Much needs to be done to protect lives and livelihoods, and the next four months are critical.

In Peru, local governments have identified flood control channels and embankment projects that would help minimise losses. A recent report published by UNDP and ODI says local governments should come up with their own risk management projects and seek support to implement them. But national government bureaucracy in Peru is holding things up. In the border province of Piura, 115 small projects have been identified to prevent flooding and landslides, but none have received funding yet, and local officials are getting nervous. There are even calls for the National Public Investment System to relax its rules to allow projects to start immediately.

In neighbouring Ecuador there are problems that may take longer to fix. Disaster risks are not addressed in 90% of Ecuadors municipal development plans, said a source in a provincial planning department. This means that buildings keep going up in high-risk areas.

Despite these issues, much has changed in South America since 1998. I would expect the impact of a severe El Nio to be less damaging. Banks across South America are in better financial shape this year to deal with the costs than in the past, according to Moody's Investors Service. Over the last decade, economic growth, poverty reduction and disaster risk governance reforms have made Peru and Ecuador more resilient to climate extremes. At the Regional Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction in the Americas last month, Ecuador's Minister of Defence, Mara Fernanda Espinosa, spoke of "constant improvements in practices, laws and standards for risk reduction".

Scientists now know a lot more about El Nio and can give advance warning of the kind of event that is expected. I spoke to UNDP Perus Alfredo Zerga, who said that a great deal can be done to prepare for a severe El Nio now. Families can find out if their home is in a flood-prone area as all local governments have risk maps, and they can identify points that are higher than the surrounding topography. These actions will certainly help save lives.

So how will South America fare when the next severe El Nio hits? Thanks to strong economic performance, political will and decentralisation of risk management, we have come a long way since 1999. But populations are still at risk and urgent action is needed.

In Luca Florez's Action4Climate documentary Back to Paoyhan, a shipibo shaman visits his home community in the Peruvian Amazon after the flood.

Watch below.

[video:https://vimeo.com/95548021]

A commuter walking on Sandton's West Street, half of which has been closed to cars. Credit: Simphiwe Nkwali (City of Johannesburg)

Johannesburg may be a city built on the profits of gold, but Mpho Parks Tau, Mayor of South Africa’s largest city, has a green dream. His dream is to make “public transport, walking and cycling more accessible, safe, attractive and cool.”

"For our economy to grow and flourish, we need to decongest our roads and have fewer people spending time in their cars stuck in traffic," he said at the launch of Africa’s first EcoMobility World Festival on Oct.4.

During the festival, Sandton central business district–also known as Africa’s richest square mile–is partially closed to private cars and converted into an ecomobile zone, not just for a car-free day as in Paris, but the entire month. Leading by example, the dynamic 45-year old mayor encourages the city’s 4.8 million residents to go ecomobile as well and "show that is possible for the residents of Joburg to break away from the habit of using private vehicles."

Transport accounts for 31% of South Africa’s energy consumption and 16% of its CO2 emissions. A relevant share of it comes from transport in urban areas. The promotion of ecomobility, which means prioritizing walking, cycling, public transport and shared mobility, is a key part of the city’s action on climate change, air pollution and social inequalities.

The city’s forward-thinking initiative puts Johannesburg on the world map of city-driven climate change action. The opening of a new bike path between Sandton and the township of Alexandra and the “Streets Alive – Jozi W-R-1” parade underlined the link between ecomobility and social inclusion.

“Cycling should become a way of life, our municipalities must become sustainable,” said South Africa’s Transport Minister Dipuo Peters, announcing further national policies in support of ecomobility. South Africa is not only Africa’s largest economy, but also the continent’s biggest polluter, ranking among the 15 largest CO2 emitters worldwide.

“We contribute to climate change systematically through carbon emissions, and the reliance by Joburg commuters on single-passenger vehicles is an inefficiency we must confront,” Mayor Parks Tau declared in his State of the City address in May.

Johannesburg's Executive Mayor Parks Tau (with green helmet) amongst riders of bicycles and other ecomobility vehicles heading off from Sandton CBD, Adfrica's richest square mile, to the low-income township of Alexandra. Credit: Simphiwe Nkwali (City of Johannesburg)

There are plenty of ways we can reduce our impact on the environment. One of these, a really cheap one, is walking. Walking alone, with friends, with your boyfriend, with your mum, to? You can walk to work, to the pub, to the cinema, to the park wherever!

"Why not use a car?" you could ask me. I would reply with another question: Do you necessarily need to go everywhere by car? Think about it. A nice walk wakes you up when you go to work in the morning and makes you feel better when you go back home in the evening, especially if your job requires you to sit all day; it keeps you healthy, because it gives you energy, it helps you to burn calories, to prevent heart diseases and to stimulate your muscles! More benefits here.

A nice walk gives you the opportunity to enjoy the nature, to breathe and, why not, to meet new interesting people.  "What if its a rainy, cold day?" Well, you can wear your best coat and rainy boots, open your umbrella and just go!

Moreover, walking is cheaper. Better again, it prevents stress!

Driving a car means:

1. More money to spend every day in gasoline;
2. More money to spend every day in parking;
3. More money for the maintenance and insurance;
4. Contributing to pollute the air YOU breath every day;
5. More stress!

I have been working with the Connect4Climate team (a really green one!) for one year, studying with my colleagues the best ways not only to raise awareness about climate change globally, but also to engage young people in daily sustainable actions. The change needs to start from each of us, we should be the first to give an example on how to live in a greener way. I live 20 minutes away from the Connect4Climate office and I walk every day, by the rain, by the sun or by the snow, and I really enjoy it because it makes me feel better.

PS: You live far away from the place you want to reach?  Take a bus or the metro, which will allow you to get closer and then just walk!

Share your green actions and climate change stories in our Voices4Climate competition.

A green wall in Madrid, Spain. Photo: Ivan Bruce

The thought that nature can also be an infrastructure is not new; nature can be harnessed to provide services within the urban environment, by reducing risk of flooding or excessive heat, or improving air quality. When nature is harnessed by people it is known as "green infrastructure." This type of infrastructure can be adopted on a range of scales and placed on a variety of different surfaces.  

Green infrastructure can be parks, forests, trees, gardens and more. But with the increasing trend of urbanization, the area dedicated to green spaces has significantly reduced in urban environments. Green spaces have been replaced with impermeable materials known as ‘grey infrastructure’ that have contributed to the increased frequency of flooding and raised the temperature of urban spaces. Overall lost green space also results in decreasing air quality, a rise in greenhouse gas emissions and reduced biodiversity. 

Urbanization has largely been driven by the move of people to cities, and this trend is dramatically increasing. By 2050 it is estimated that 70 per cent of the world’s population will live in urban areas. This fact alone is of great significance to resource availability, including access to clean drinking water, waste management, transportation and other aspects of modern day society. Furthermore, climate change will bring additional stresses to managing the urban environment. More extreme weather events, shifting resource availability and sea level rise will all have to be managed for a growing urban population.

Considering the effects of climate change and the increasing trend of urbanization, city officials, urban planners and architects are looking at ways to better integrate green infrastructure by creating resilient city plans. Such efforts can be seen in the Action4Climate documentary ‘Rotterdam - The Transition to Urban Resilience.’ The film is part of the URBES project, which with a focus on European cities as case studies, researches how cities can bridge the link between urbanization, ecosystem services and biodiversity.

 

Realizing that cities need to become natural systems is key in addressing climate change and creating healthier places to live, work and play. Increasing the provision of green infrastructure also has a direct impact in reducing the "heat island" effect, which can help address the health impacts of extended and more severe heat waves brought on by climate change.

Research has also shown that human wellbeing increases when people live near nature and water elements. Urban green infrastructure can play a role in bringing nature closer to people living in cities, allowing for greater interaction with green spaces. The concept of encouraging public places has been at the heart of urban design theory for centuries. Public spaces advance social vitalization in cities; green spaces can enhance public spaces for added benefit.

Another exciting concept for green spaces is urban agriculture or creating vertical farms that adopt intensive production methods to meet the demands of daily consumer needs. Such a method of food production is seen to be more conscious to the environment as it maximizes yields and removes many of the added burdens of traditional agriculture such as large transportation miles or unsustainable fertilization or irrigation practices.

The first commercial vertical farm, Sky Greens (pictured above), was opened early this year in Singapore. It provides fresh and locally grown produce, which is a rarity for Singaporeans as only seven per cent of produce consumed is grown locally. 

Rebuild by Design, an organization founded after the devastation that was left by hurricane Sandy, launched a competition to challenge architects, engineers and designers to create solutions to prevent damage in areas most vulnerable to weather events similar to Hurricane Sandy. The winning entry by BIG architects creates a series of parks which also function as protective system to Manhattan; the design is a great example of integrating green infrastructure to create spaces that both increase the quality of the public realm and provide protection against flooding and stormwater.

I highly commend the BIG U projecte must increase green infrastructure now so that cities are prepared before devastating weather events hit.

The application of green infrastructure can be adapted for many uses, from green walkways to living walls and garden roofs which all positively contribute to the city’s environment. However to date green infrastructure is still treated more at a conceptual level, as an unnecessary but pleasant addition rather than an integrated approach for city planning. It is clear that green infrastructure provides economic, ecological and social benefits.

Green infrastructure must be a priority. Let’s shift from grey to green.

Sustainable urbanisation

With our Future Proofing Cities (FPC) initiative Atkins is taking a leading role in the global drive towards sustainable urbanisation, increasingly recognised as a crucial underpinning for economic development. Formally launched with a major publication released in 2012 (free to download from this link), funded by the UK government and supported by a wide range of international stakeholders, the FPC initiative is now being progressively applied on all our projects globally.

Closely aligned with our FPC initiative, Atkins has recently developed a highly innovative Eco-Low Carbon (ELC) Urban Planning Methodology specifically for China. With funding from the UK’s Foreign and Commonwealth Office, and co-funded by China’s Ministry of Housing andUrban-Rural Development (MOHURD), the methodology was officially launched in Beijing in May 2014 and is also available for free download (see this link). Using a practical, process based, step-by-step approach, the methodology places strong emphasis on integration, understanding local context, and human scale development in harmony with nature, as well as the importance of place making in urban form, and partnering to finance ELC development through green credit initiatives.

Cadre City Plaza, Guangzhou, China – International TOD centre. Photo Credit: Atkins

With attention now increasingly focusing on the quality as well as quantity and pace of urbanisation in China, the methodology has generated wide interest both inside and outside China. It includes many elements which are replicable in different contexts across the Asia Pacific region as well as globally.

 

In a recent story written by Ashley Halligan, an analyst at Software Advice, she gave recognition to four global urban sustainability initiatives that are lesser known in terms of environmental innovation. Some are lesser known because of being historically volatile--whether in terms of violence or excess waste--or, perhaps, being nonexistent altogether.

In an article outlining the initiatives of Medellin, Colombia; Naples, Italy; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and, Songdo, South Korea, Halligan outlines vastly different approaches to creating environmental sustainability goals and becoming global leaders for these initiatives.

Medellin, for example, has a violent history. Once being deemed the most violent city in the world, it's now a 2012 awardee of the Sustainable Transport Award, alongside long-respected San Francisco.

Naples, on the other hand, has been infamous for its devastating trash crisis, with alleys, parks, and squares literally piled with waste--mostly linked to the local Camorra (mafia-like organization). Residents have taken matters into their own hands hosting guerrilla gardening groups and flash-mob clean-ups.

Philadelphia, a U.S. city not particularly known for its environmental forwardness, vowed in 2008 to become the country's "greenest" city when Mayor Mike Nutter gave his inaugural speech. With a six-year, 14-initiative project underway, Philadelphia shows that any city can overcome current challenges.

Lastly, Songdo, represents an entirely different approach to sustainability. A city built from scratch atop South Korean swampland, Songdo is the country's first Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Neighbhorhood--all of its buildings also either meet or exceed LEED standards.

To read more about these sustainability projects across the globe, visit the original story here.