Figure 5.2: Models of net zero development in urban areas

The Sustainable Development Goals are another arena of national commitment that requires local implementation. Cities can coordinate net zero action with localized action to deliver the SDGs. For countries in A frica and South Asia facing dire energy access challenges, delivering a net zero transition must go hand in hand with alternatives that provide energy access to populations with some of the lowest carbon footprints in the world. In 2019, despite progress in advancing SDG7 on energy, an estimated 759 million people still lacked access to electricity and 2.6 billion people lacked access to clean cooking facilities.53 The IEA forecasts that, as population growth continues in A frica, energy access challenges will continue unabated. While electricity access rates are higher in urban areas, urban dwellers still face energy access challenges related to affordability and reliance, particularly in rapidly growing urban peripheries. Local governments and other urban actors have an essential role in linking the urban net zero transition with other sustainable development objectives such as energy access. Carbon mitigation policies for off-grid energy or energy efficiency directly alleviate some of the energy access challenges.

Moreover, urban areas can help accelerate the net zero transition. For example, the EU’s 2050 net zero strategy considers cities as experimentation centres in sectors such as energy, transport, and construction.54 Different models of low-carbon, sustainable cities developed over the years have been implemented in practice, with rich lessons for net zero cities.55

However, existing models of urban development that favour net zero action (as illustrated in Figure 5.2) cater to wellestablished cities with access to financial resources and advanced technologies such as Singapore, Stockholm or Vancouver, among others. There is less understanding of what net zero will mean for rapidly urbanizing areas

Figure 5.2: Models of net zero development in urban areas

Sustainable cities

Cities that protect natural resources while achieving economic, physical, and social progress, and anticipate environmental risks that can undermine any development achievement Protection

Green Urban Futures

Efficiency

Resilient cities

Cities that have the ability to absorb, recover and prepare for shocks (economic, environmental, social & institutional)

Safety

Smart cities

Cities where the traditional networks and services are made more efficient with digital and telecommunication technologies for the benefit of its inhabitants and businesses

Source: Compiled from Arcadis, 2018; Hassan and Lee, 2015; Barkham, 2013; OECD, n.d.; IMD, 2021; European Commission, 2022.