Today, over half the world’s population lives in cities. This share is expected to rise to 68%, or nearly 7 billion people, by 2050. Material consumption is expected to grow on a business-as-usual pathway, with buildings already accounting for 30% of global energy consumption and 28% of energy-related carbon emissions. The COVID-19 pandemic has brought into sharp focus the unsustainability of current urbanization models for human and planetary health. However, cities also fuel the global economy and are, therefore, crucial to the economic and social recovery from COVID-19.
As societies emerge from this crisis, increasing urban resilience and improving the lives and well-being of dwellers will be critical to boosting economic and citizen confidence. According to the World Economic Forum’s Future of Nature and Business Report, a nature-positive pathway in the infrastructure and built environment could create over $3 trillion in business opportunities and create 117 million jobs by 2030.
To realize this potential and reimagine cities, the World Economic Forum is collaborating with the Government of Colombia on a global initiative that supports city governments, businesses and citizens around the world to create an urban development model in harmony with nature: BiodiverCities by 2030.
By curating a high-level commission of 30+ world-renowned experts and practitioners from the public and private sectors, academia and civil society, the BiodiverCities by 2030 initiative combines the latest research with practical solutions in the service of sustainable, inclusive and nature-positive urban development. The Global Commission on BiodiverCities by 2030 advises on the development of a shared concept and forward-looking perspective to integrate cities with nature.
The BiodiverCities by 2030: Transforming cities’ relationship with nature report, released in January 2022, provides a vision for cities of the future that place nature at the heart of decision-making and infrastructure investments.
The initiative uses artificial intelligence and crowdsourcing technologies through the Forum’s Strategic Intelligence and Uplink platforms, collecting up-to-date online content and building a community of innovators and entrepreneurs to address the world’s most pressing challenges on nature and cities.
The BiodiverCities UpLink Challenge showcases successful solutions that contribute to advancing the global transition to BiodiverCities by 2030 and help connect them to opportunities that can scale and accelerate their impact.
The Transformation Map on BiodiverCities is a living knowledge tool that explores the BiodiverCities concept and key issues related to it. It gives access to content, publications and the latest research and analysis from leading institutions and media around the world. It also allows interaction with other topics of interest and current affairs while screening the interconnections between BiodiverCities and other insight areas.
The BiodiverCities by 2030 initiative is convened in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and the Government of Colombia.
For more information on the initiative please contact natureactionagenda@weforum.org.
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