The Issues
Amidst an increasingly unstable climate, the key to an equitable and regenerative future is how cities respond.
Global crises are entangled and amplifying each other. One-dimensional solutions to climate change, biodiversity loss, poverty, and inequality prove ineffective. As we teeter on the brink of a world warming beyond 1.5º, addressing these challenges demands a coordinated approach targeting root causes.
Cities can make or break our future.
With dense populations, cities are hubs of innovation and consumption, generating enormous amounts of cultural, knowledge, and economic value. They also cause large emissions and needless waste through extractive resource use. Changing the way cities meet our needs is essential for a viable future.
Structurally excluded communities hold the solutions to unlock decarbonization.
Too often, solutions are adopted without regard for the historical context and lived experiences of people in communities. To effectively address systemic harm, climate solutions must center on the needs of marginalized communities and account for structural inequities.
Hidden Obstacles
Cities are equipped for change and hold the potential to spark transformation, but they face hurdles that inhibit action at the speed and scale required.
Inadequate Support Systems
The solutions we bring to market need more platforms, infrastructure, and capital to outcompete the extractive, linear economy. Cities lack sufficient resources to create future-focused conditions for entrepreneurs and their customers. Net-positive (regenerative) businesses run against a systemic lack of appropriate infrastructure, services, partners, and financial capital to gain massive traction and secure long-term success. However, cities play a pivotal role in securing and leveraging capital from private and public actors to create a better system.
Ineffective Policies & Incentives
Current policy and incentive structures often maintain the status quo, hindering effective action for economic development, decarbonization, and resilience. This creates an uneven playing field that favors incumbent players and traditional business models, making it challenging for new solutions to enter markets. Incentives coded into physical, legal, and financial structures are overlooked tools to accelerate equitable decarbonization.
Fragmented Solutions
Single-issue initiatives miss out on critical multiplier effects. Without local, regional, and issue-specific collaboration across multiple outcomes, there is a greater risk of missing our goals or creating unintended consequences.
The Circular City Coalition partners with cities and community-based organizations to accelerate systemic change toward a regenerative and equitable future.
