Rapid urbanisation worsening climate change

Over 50 per cent of the world’s population lives in urban areas, exacerbating climate change. According to the World Bank, this trend is increasing rapidly and by 2045, the number of people living in towns and cities is projected to increase to 6 billion from the current 4 billion.

Kenya is also part of this trend as more people leave their rural homes for towns in search of jobs and the ‘good life’, mainly youth who leave schools and colleges.

Urbanisation is a reality we cannot live without. Indeed, more than 80 per cent of the world’s Gross Domestic Product is generated in cities through trade, commerce and manufacturing. Cities consume about two-thirds of the world’s energy, which translates to 70 per cent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Urban experts observe that if properly managed, urban centres act as hubs of productivity and offer an ideal environment for innovation and formation of new ideas.

Rapid urbanisation has brought with it massive challenges. These include an insatiable demand for affordable basic services like housing, education, transport and health care. Jobs and other income generating activities are also scarce compared to demand, which leaves a large number of people almost destitute. The latter consists of the billion urban poor who currently live in informal settlements.

It is clear that as cities develop, so does the rise in their exposure and vulnerability to climate and disaster risk. In some places, effects of the increasing carbon footprint are already being experienced.

For instance, almost half a billion urban residents live in coastal areas, increasing their vulnerability to storm surges and sea level rise. Over the last couple of decades, for instance, the sea front in Kenya’s coastal town of Malindi has been receding, adversely affecting fishing and tourism activities along the town’s coastline.

Industries now need to start the transition to the use of green technology. According to a report titled, Supply Chain Transformation and Resource Efficiency published by Carbon Trust of the United Kingdom, businesses can save billions by tackling supplier inefficiencies as well as re-thinking products and business models. This includes relooking at the process from the extraction of and transportation of raw materials to the disposal of used products.

The paper states that “the impact of energy costs illustrates the broader need for companies to address resource risks and opportunities within their supply chains. In addition to their own energy bills, companies indirectly buy the energy used to extract, process, manufacture, and transport material inputs, embedded within the cost structure of their supply chain”.

There is hope in Kenya. For example, a leading distillery in is set to install a 1 MW roof solar system on its plant in Athi River, a first in the region’s manufacturing industry. The brewer has said it will save up to Sh 18 million per year for the next 25 years.




Another important area that will need to be restructured for environmental purposes in cities is public transport. There are good signs that this is feasible after the RATP State-owned public transport operator in France officially launched a fully electric bus recently. Replication of such a model will lead to a great decrease in the use of carbon fuels. At a personal level, electric cars are also now an emerging phenomenon in the developed world.

The World Bank notes that the way many cities are currently physically constituted gives little room for flexibility. Once a city is built, its physical form and land use patterns can be locked in for generations, leading to unsustainable sprawl. Consequently, the Bank recommends that both national and county (state) governments must engage in intensive policy coordination and investment choices to build cities that “work” – inclusive, safe, resilient and sustainable.

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