The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently released a “Toolbox of Solutions” designed to help accelerate decarbonization in cities. The toolbox – which is open to any user for free – contains more than 200 practical solutions to help city leaders, government entities, and businesses evaluate and identify optimal solutions to begin decarbonisation. The Toolbox of Solutions is part of the Forum’s Net-Zero Carbon Cities program, which is designed to bring together businesses with city, regional, and national government leaders to accelerate urban transitions to a net-zero future.
The interactive platform was developed in collaboration with Accenture. It focuses on solutions that address clean electrification, efficiency, and smart infrastructure across sectors such as energy, buildings, and mobility. It was created from input received from more than 110 cities, businesses, academics, civil society leaders and other stakeholders from around the world and across sectors in a bid to capture best practices and case studies for urban transformation and decarbonisation.
Solutions include policy, business and finance models that result in reduced emissions, while also leading to other positive outcomes, such as job creation and improved air quality. The WEF states that the solutions are tailored to specific city attributes including the electricity grid’s health, local population density, and income level.
“Decarbonization solutions already exist – we don’t need to wait for the next big innovation,” said Kristen Panerali, head of energy, materials and infrastructure programme, Net-Zero Carbon Cities, World Economic Forum “This platform provides examples of policies and business models that have been used successfully around the world. We are starting with 200 solutions and expect to have many more over the course of the next year.”