The Climate City

Jonathan Laski

The Agile City (Part II)– What is a city without the ability of citizens to move around safely, inexpensively, accessibly, and without fear of sickness from pollution?

Jonathan Laskiis a sustainability professional and lawyer based in Toronto, Canada. His professional career began in the corporate/commercial practice group of a large independent law firm in Toronto, following which Jonathan transitioned to a career in sustainability. He has directed innovative city-level research and impact programmes through roles with the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group, World Green Building Council, and Waterfront Toronto. Highlights include managing the first of C40’s peer-to-peer city networks on private sector building energy efficiency in 2012–2013 and launching WorldGBC’s Advancing Net-Zero global initiative.

Following postings and education abroad, including time in London, Sydney, and Lund (Sweden), Jonathan is now firmly based in Toronto with his partner and two young daughters. At the time of writing, Jonathan is director of Sustainable Finance Solutions with Sustainalytics, one of the world’s leading providers of ESG research and ratings. In this role he leads the delivery of “second-party opinions” for corporate and bank clients in the EMEA and Americas regions, looking to issue green, social, and sustainable debt to finance ESG projects which are aligned with the Paris Agreement and science-based targets initiative.

Olivia Nielsen

The Habitable City (Part I)– The chapter explores how cities can address one of their biggest challenges: housing a growing urban population in an affordable, sustainable, and climate-resilient way.

Olivia Nielsenis an Associate Principal at Miyamoto International, a global structural engineering and disaster-risk reduction firm, where she focuses on making housing affordable, sustainable, and resilient for all. From post-disaster Haiti to Papua New Guinea, she has developed and worked on critical housing programmes in over 35 countries for the World Bank, USAID, and Habitat for Humanity, among others. She has over a decade of experience in housing policy, finance, housing public–private partnerships, post-disaster reconstruction, and green construction. Prior to joining Miyamoto, Olivia was a principal at the Affordable Housing Institute, where she developed housing policy and finance solutions in Haiti, Sub-Saharan Africa, and the South Pacific for the World Bank and USAID. Olivia also managed CEMEX’s housing and infrastructure projects in Latin America and the Caribbean, where she focused on leading the cement company’s reconstruction efforts after the devastating 2010 earthquake in Haiti. Olivia is originally from Paris, France, has a Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology from McGill University, a Master’s in Sustainable Management from the United Nations Mandated University, and an Executive Master’s in Management from the London School of Economics. Through her work, she seeks to ensure that all families around the world have access to affordable, sustainable, and resilient homes.

Nicky Gavron and Alex Denvir

The Habitable City (Part II)– We must design and build our future housing in a way that promotes density over sprawl and locks away carbon with greener, cleaner, and more circular methods.

The former Deputy Mayor of London, Nicky Gavron AM, has served on the assembly’s Housing, Environment, and Planning committees since 2008. She is a member of the London Sustainable Development Commission. An elected politician since 1986, Nicky has been at the forefront of developing integrated land-use, housing, transport, and environmental policy at every level of government. Throughout the 1990s she led the Labour group on the London Planning Advisory Committee (LPAC), becoming the chair in 1994. In this role she commissioned research and formulated strategies to create a more sustainable London, including on congestion charging and affordable housing. In the late 1990s she held positions on national committees and commissions. In 2000, she became London’s first statutory Deputy Mayor, working closely with Mayor Livingstone to set up the Greater London Authority’s working processes and policy frameworks. She led on the first London Plan, which set out the vision and long-term policies to make London an exemplary sustainable world city.

Leading London’s response to climate change, Nicky introduced policies and programmes to reduce CO2 emissions across energy, water, waste, transport, and sustainable design and construction. Her initiatives include establishing the London Climate Change Agency and C40 Cities. She firmly believes that cities working collaboratively are pivotal in the battle against climate change. Nicky is internationally recognized for her work on urban planning and the environment and has and continues to advise cities and city networks. Her advisory roles have included Chief Project Advisor to the London School of Economics (LSE) Stern Cities Programme on the economics of green cities, a member of the Rotterdam International Advisory Board, and honorary adviser to the Joint US China Collaboration on Clean Energy (JUCCCE). Nicky has many passions including furthering the nature/climate nexus and its relationship to accelerating carbon-free construction – the subject of her chapter.

Alex Denviris an experienced advisor and researcher who has worked with senior politicians at a national and local level in England and London primarily on housing, planning, and regeneration policy. He began working with developers and communities on large urban regeneration projects in London, before going on to work with a Shadow Minister in the House of Commons, advising on national planning policy and developing party positions. He has most recently worked with members of the London Assembly to shape affordable housing policy in the capital and to steer the cross-party response to the new draft London Plan through its many stages towards adoption.

Conor Riffle

The Resourceful City– This chapter looks at how to move our urban economies to circular economies that reduce reliance on landfill and prioritize conservation of resources. Old models of disposing of resources aren’t compatible with Earth’s urban future.

Conor Riffleis Senior Vice President of Smart Cities at Rubicon, a global technology company that provides waste and recycling solutions to businesses and government. In this role, he runs the company’s software business for municipal governments, RUBICONSmartCityTM. RUBICONSmartCity has been deployed in more than 55 cities, including Atlanta, Baltimore, and Kansas City. In 2020, Conor was named a “40 Under 40” award winner by Waste360 magazine.