Urban centers are embracing cutting-edge technologies to combat climate challenges and revolutionize waste management, paving the way for resilient, sustainable cities
The world’s urban populations are facing significant climate-related challenges. By 2050, it’s projected that eight times as many city dwellers could be exposed to extreme heat, and an additional 800 million people may be at risk from the impacts of rising sea levels and storm surges, according to the U.N. Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
To mitigate these catastrophic effects, cities must adapt and increase their investment in infrastructure resilience, especially cities like Jakarta and Chicago, which are sinking.
These investments need to include solutions for waste management in cities around the globe, which is a major contributor to methane, a potent greenhouse gas. Annually, the world generates two billion tons of municipal waste, and a new report from the U.N. Environment Programme predicts that municipal waste mountains are set to grow by as much as two-thirds by 2050 in the Global South.
Alarmingly, 45% of this waste never reaches appropriate management facilities, causing significant emissions of methane. And a significant portion of this untreated refuse originates from urban areas in the Global South, where inadequate infrastructure often hinders proper collection, sorting, and safe disposal of waste in landfills.
Innovative tech could maximize investments in climate resilience
Cities across the globe from Houston to Singapore are embracing cutting-edge technology in the form of digital twins, which are virtual representations of a real-world objects or systems and are used to address various urban challenges. These advanced digital replicas are being utilized to monitor groundwater, mitigate urban heat islands, combat air pollution, and optimize waste management systems.
In urban settings, digital twins integrate information from vehicles, buildings, and infrastructure. They are updated with real-time data that is collected from various sources, including drones, sensors, and satellites. This data is then enhanced with input from smart devices, the vast network of internet connected technologies, and artificial intelligence, creating a comprehensive and dynamic model of the city.
These sophisticated tools allow city planners and managers to visualize, analyze, and predict urban phenomena, enabling more informed decision-making and efficient resource allocation. By leveraging digital twins, cities are better equipped to tackle complex environmental and infrastructure challenges.
Significant efficiencies from the use of this technology are also likely. By 2025, more than 500 cities could be using some form of digital twin technology, according to ABI Research, sparking savings of $280 billion by 2030.
Technology poised to help drive action on waste
City mayors from around the world are partnering together through C40 — a global network of nearly 100 mayors of the world’s leading cities who are united to confront the climate crisis — in order to improve waste management practices, especially around reducing methane emissions. Participating cities are striving to meet a series of 2030 targets, which include establishing city-wide waste collection services, treating at least 30% of organic waste, and reducing waste disposal emissions by a minimum of 30%.
To achieve these objectives, cities are undertaking key intervention projects, such as developing sanitary landfills equipped with technology-enabled gas capture, improving working conditions in the informal sector, and introducing a comprehensive recycling system along with a waste segregation framework.
More sophisticated tools allow city planners and managers to visualize, analyze, and predict urban phenomena, enabling more informed decision-making and efficient resource allocation
Organic materials, such as food scraps, yard trimmings, junk wood, and wastepaper, make up most landfill content. As these materials decompose, they produce biogas, which includes methane. Instead of letting this methane leak into the atmosphere or go to waste, it can be captured and used as a relatively clean energy source for generating electricity or heat. This approach offers dual climate benefits because it prevents landfill emissions and reduces the need for coal, oil, or natural gas.
For example, one of these solutions that utilizes technology for managing biogas uses perforated tubes that are inserted deep into the landfill to collect the gas, which is then piped to a central collection area where it can be vented or flared.
However, there are major impediments to landfill methane capture, including a lack of evidence-based data, high upfront costs, and the lack of regulations and policies. This is where collaboration through C40 and the UN Habitat’s Waste Wise Cities (WaCT) can have an impact. For example, more than 400 cities have begun using a WaCT tool to uncover exactly what is happening to their waste, and then using this information to demonstrate the need for innovation and investment in their management strategies. For example, Dakar, the capital city of Senegal, collects 95% of its waste, but only 1% is sent to managed recovery and disposal facilities, resulting in a waste recovery rate of just 4%. The city’s mayors are now leveraging this data to attract external investment with the aim of transforming waste management into a source of revenue, which is a broader opportunity for cities in the Global South.
Conclusion
As the world’s urban populations face unprecedented environmental challenges — from extreme heat, to rising sea levels, and waste management crises — many are turning toward technology for help. And cutting-edge technology solutions, such as digital twins and innovative waste management system solutions, offer a beacon of hope. By leveraging these technologies, cities can increase their investment in infrastructure resilience, mitigate the impacts of climate change, and drive significant efficiencies.
As the world’s cities continue to grow and evolve, it is essential that we prioritize investment in climate resilience and innovative technologies to create a more sustainable, equitable, and environmentally conscious urban future.
This article is based on two articles in The Ethical Corporation magazine’s issue on Decarbonising Cities: How AI is arming cities in the battle for climate resilience by Amy Nguyan and The Global South cities getting to grips with methane pollution from organic waste, by Mark Hillsdon.
