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UNEP-UN-HABITAT / CITIES
STORY: UNEP / CITIES
TRT: 2.30
SOURCE: UNEP/UN-HABITAT
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 APRIL 2013, NAIROBI, KENYA / FILE
1. Med shot, press conference (from left to right: Gino Van Begin, Dr Joan Clos, Achim Steiner, and Desta Mebratu)
2. Cutaway, journalists
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP:
“60 percent of the infrastructure that we will require by 2050 has yet to be constructed. Imagine the sheer volume of construction that is going to happen. In addition to which, cities are not just a matter of infrastructure, but of services, of water, of food, of energy.”
4. Cutaway, journalists
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Dr Joan Clos, Executive Director, UN-Habitat:
“We fully agree on this analysis of the importance of urbanization in the coming years. We know that if the tendencies grow as predicted, we will have at least 75% of the population already urbanized in the coming 25 years.”
6. Cutaway, journalists
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Gino Van Begin, Secretary General, Local Governments for Sustainability (ICLEI:):
“So what we need is actually a number of issues. We need to take back the roads from the cars. We need to construct our buildings so that they produce energy, and not consume energy. We have to come up with clean technology that allows us to ensure that our buildings become not only more efficient, but actually produce energy in the future.”
8. Cutaway, journalists
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Achim Steiner, Executive Director, UNEP:
“In the 21st century cities will be the opportunity for humanity to either achieve greater sustainability or to fail, and fail completely. And that is why the report points very much to the notions of opportunity – if the concept of decoupling of economic growth from resource consumption can be achieved.”
FILE – UNEP - 24 SEPTEMBER 2012, NAIROBI, KENYA
10. Wide shots, Nairobi city
FILE – WORLD BANK - AUGUST 10 2012, NAIROBI, KENYA
11. Tracking shot, highway from car
12. Wide shot, traffic and pedestrians on street
FILE – IMF, RECENT 2013, PARIS, FRANCE
12. Wide shot, heavy traffic at the Champs-Élysées with Arc de Triumph in the background
FILE – IMF – RECENT 2013, HYDERABAD, INDIA
8. Wide shot, exterior shopping complex
FILE – IMF – RECENT 2013, SAO PAOLO, BRAZIL
9. Wide shot, Bus passes by
A report launched today in Nairobi, Kenya by the United Nations Environmental Programme (UNEP) jointly with UN-HABITAT said that by 2050, around 70 percent of the world’s population will live in cities, with the biggest increases in urbanization taking place in Africa and Asia.
The report also says that investing in greener infrastructure and promoting new technology can place cities on a more sustainable path, while tackling climate change and reducing poverty levels.
UNEP’s Executive Director, Achim Steiner said at the launch that “60 percent of the infrastructure that we will require by 2050 has yet to be constructed”.
He added that cities were not only a matter of infrastructure, “but of services, of water, of food, of energy.”
And UN-HABITAT’s chief Joan Clos said he fully agreed with the importance of urbanization in the coming years. He said that “if the tendencies grow as predicted, we will have at least 75% of the population already urbanized in the coming 25 years.”
Much of the rapid urbanization witnessed to date has been accompanied by increased environmental degradation and growing numbers of urban poor.
The report also says that if current trends continue, supplies of water and energy, transport infrastructure, and other resources, will come under unprecedented pressure, with serious potential consequences for the quality of life of city dwellers.
Gino Van Begin, Secretary General of the NGO ‘Local Governments for Sustainability’ (ICLEI) said that there were a number of issues to take care of. He said: “we need to take back the roads from the cars, as well as the need to construct our buildings so that they produce energy, and not consume energy.”
Van Begin added that “we have to come up with clean technology that allows us to ensure that our buildings become not only more efficient, but actually produce energy in the future.”
The report by the UNEP-hosted International Resource Panel will outline actions that cities can take to sustain and expand economic growth in a resource-constrained 21st century— particularly in developing countries.
Steiner said that in the 21st century cities would be the opportunity for humanity to “either achieve greater sustainability or to fail, and fail completely”.
He added that the report pointed very much to the notions of opportunity, “if the concept of decoupling of economic growth from resource consumption can be achieved.”
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