Summit No. 3: Sustainable Communities
Opportunity Statement
Climate change and sustainable community development are intricately connected issues. For example:
- How and where communities develop contribute significantly to global climate change, as well as to such sustainable development objectives as preserving natural areas, reducing energy consumption and enhancing mobility.
- The current and anticipated impacts of climate change will have a significant effect on long-term quality of life, business climate, public health and safety and other key factors of community well-being.
- Many of the technologies and practices that mitigate climate change or help communities adapt to its impacts have co-benefits for local sustainability.
- Many policies, actions and strategies for mitigating and adapting to climate change are best pursued at the local level.
The commitment of U.S. communities to reducing greenhouse gas emissions is growing. More than 400 U.S. Mayors have signed an agreement to reduce local carbon emissions; cities are participating in programs such as ICLEI’s Cities for Climate Protection effort; and the U.S. Conference of Mayors has adopted resolutions in support of local climate action and more widespread use of clean energy technologies. These commitments create new opportunities for sustainable technologies and practices
The emerging urgency around climate action may alter the assumptions, processes and practices that drive the where, when and how of community development. Climate action may require that communities, whose resources are limited, reprioritize their sustainable development objectives. At the same time, new financial instruments such as the Chicago Climate Exchange are creating economic incentives for local climate innovation.
Is climate change warming the environment for sustainable community development? What are the opportunities for localities to capture co-benefits for sustainability and climate stabilization? What resources do developers, planners, elected officials and other stakeholders need to meet their commitments for greenhouse gas reductions, as well as their broader goals for sustainability?
Meeting Purpose:
The Johnson Foundation, the National Energy Center for Sustainable Communities and the Presidential Climate Action Project at the University of Colorado Graduate School of Public Affairs are sponsoring a series of four National Leadership Summits to advance U.S. sustainability in this time of climate change.
The first two summits, held in 2006, focused on energy policy and natural resource stewardship. The third will be held June 4-6, 2007, at the Johnson Foundation’s Wingspread Conference Center in Racine, WI. Forty selected leaders in business, academic, finance, government and community development will address the questions above and develop a list of concrete action items to advance mutually supporting objectives for sustainability and climate-change mitigation and adaptation.
These action items, along with those from the first two summits, will be incorporated during the final Summit in October 2007 into a 5-year action plan to advance national sustainability.
Summit Agenda:
Day 1: The National Leadership Summit on Sustainable Communities and Climate Change will open with a panel discussion that addresses these questions:
- What should be the local role in climate action?
- What are examples of effective local action on climate change?
- How does climate action relate to sustainable community development?
Day 2: Summit participants will break into three small discussion groups, which will do the bulk of the work in developing “action items.” Each group will discuss one of these topics:
- Adaptation to Climate Change
- Urban Design and Mobility as Carbon Mitigation Strategies
- Net-Zero Development as a Carbon Mitigation Strategy
Day 3: Participants will meet again in plenary session to hear reports from the three discussion groups and to prioritize their results. The topics and specific questions for the discussion groups are described in Table 1, located here.