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Global series: Emerging Cities

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05 Nov, 2023

This post was originally published on The Conversation

Sun Brockie/flickr, CC BY-SA

Cities have been in the spotlight recently, as hundreds of American mayors responded to the US withdrawal from the Paris climate deal by signing onto the international agreement themselves. There’s virtually no precedent for such local engagement with global affairs.

But cities have always been labs of innovation, as well as hotbeds of crime and inequality, architectural stunners, decaying ruins and everything in between. Our series Emerging Cities examines how urban areas around the globe, from Paraguay to Iran, are changing and making change.


People power: how communities can save the environment

From citizens who sit on the boards of energy companies to neighbourhoods that help fund local wind farms, community action is critical to the environmental movement.

An old German steel region gets a mindful modern makeover


Phoenix Lake, Dortmund’s coolest new quarter, was once an abanonded steel mill surrounded by polluted waterways and brownfields. Frank Vincentz/Wikimedia (CC BY-SA 3.0) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA, CC BY-SA

A former industrial region in the heart of Germany is slowly reinventing itself for the 21st century, offering urban planning lessons for how to reinvent a rust belt, from Detroit to upstate New York and beyond.

Paraguayan bank heist shows the dark underbelly of free trade

Ciudad del Este, the capital of Paraguay’s “wild, wild west”, was built to get goods to market without any pesky state intervention. A recent brazen bank heist shows that crime is just the flip side of the free-trade coin.

Is this the end of slum upgrading in Brazil?


Brazil’s favelas are famous, but so are its ambitious efforts to bring roads, water, electricity, and land rights to its informal urban settlements. eflon/flickr, CC BY, CC BY

For decades, Brazil has worked to improve conditions in its poorest neighbourhoods: building roads, drainage, lighting, and safer housing. Will budget cuts end its ambitious slum-upgrading efforts?

Six utopian cities of the future that re-imagine life on Earth


Alan Marshall, Author provided, Author provided

Given that cities may be home to 80% of humanity by the end of the century, they can only be sustainable if eco-friendliness is one of their core features.

Razing modernist buildings, Iran erases a more Western past


A view of Tehran, with its mix of traditional and modern design. Jørn Eriksson/Flick, CC BY-ND, CC BY-ND

Without protection, Iran’s spectacular American- and Italian-designed mid-century structures – legacies of a time when a cosmopolitan Tehran welcomed architects from around the globe – will be reduced to dust, beams and concrete blocks.

The Conversation

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Climate Zero and Carbon Neutral partner to reach net zero

Climate Zero and Carbon Neutral partner to reach net zero

A new partnership between Climate Zero and Carbon Neutral brings carbon accounting and offsets together, making sustainability gains easier for Australian businesses.

The partnership means businesses using Climate Zero’s carbon accounting software to measure, reduce and report on emissions can now also offset from the platform, making it easier for businesses of all sizes to progress their sustainability goals.

Climate Zero Managing Director Tai Lennon said the partnership reflected the company’s mission to remove barriers between businesses and net zero.

“Like anything, corporate sustainability is easier with the right tools and support. We’ve been helping businesses measure and reduce emissions for more than 15 years and now, with Carbon Neutral’s partnership, they can easily compare, choose and purchase high-integrity carbon credits and track their impact — all within our platform,” Lennon said.

Carbon Neutral CEO Phil Ireland agreed and said the partnership was a natural collaboration that made it easier for businesses to have a positive impact.

“With the ability to measure, offset and report on emissions all in one place, we’re not only removing administrative barriers but also making it easier for businesses of all sizes to take credible climate action,” Ireland said.

The partnership is said to reflect the need for a multi-faceted approach to corporate sustainability because of greenhouse gas emissions already locked into the atmosphere, requiring sequestering and nature-based regeneration.

“While reducing emissions remains the top priority to help our economy shift from depletion to regeneration, there will always be residual emissions that an organisation simply cannot reduce,” Lennon said.

“We’ve done our research and partnered with Carbon Neutral because we have seen first-hand the impact their projects are having not just to generate carbon credits but also to restore native landscapes, preserve biodiversity, return land to Traditional Owners and permanently remove carbon from the atmosphere.

“Our partnership is based on trust and integrity, because if you’re serious about reducing emissions, your offsets should be as real as your commitments.”

Image caption: Carbon Neutral CEO Phil Ireland with Climate Zero Managing Director Tai Lennon and Chief Product Officer Jess Symes.

Australian Open exceeds single-use waste reduction targets

Australian Open exceeds single-use waste reduction targets

Single-use waste reduction targets have been exceeded at this year’s Australian Open, with Tennis Australia’s projection of 100,000 reusable items washed increased by almost 37,000.

Through the partnership between Sustainability Victoria and Tennis Australia, thousands of reusable cups, made by Victorian company bettercup, replaced single-use cups in the Courtside Bar and bars around Garden Square.

With additional reusable cups, bowls and plates served by vendors, the event saw a record-breaking 136,932 items washed for reuse, nearly doubling the result from last year’s event.

During the three-week tournament, the dishwashing team from Green My Plate collected, washed and returned over 69,000 bettercups alone, representing 552 kg of single-use cups avoided.

Matt Genever, Sustainability Victoria CEO, said, “It’s fantastic that so many people embraced the reusable cups at AO25, diverting waste from landfill and reducing their environmental impact.

“The simplicity of the model was key to its success. Patrons enjoyed their drinks in the reusable cups then dropped them at clearly marked collection points for washing.

“The reusable bettercups will also be repurposed for other events across Victoria, providing a long-term solution to waste reduction.”

The reusables bin at the Australian Open 2025 (AO25). Image: Supplied.

Tennis Australia’s Director of Sustainability, Matthew Nicholas, said, “We’re proud of the steps we’re taking to reduce single-use consumption at the Australian Open.

“On top of the almost 137,000 single-use items diverted from waste streams through the AO Reusables program, we recycled over 74 tonnes of glass and 64 tonnes of cardboard. We also tackled more challenging tournament-specific waste streams, sending approximately 16,000 tennis ball tubes and 5 km of nylon racquet string offcuts to dedicated recycling pilots.”

Sustainability Victoria will continue to support Tennis Australia in its future sustainability strategy as Victoria transitions to a circular economy with less waste and emissions.

Top image: Supplied.

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