Page 134 - Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals

United for Smart Sustainable Cities
Connecting cities and communities with the Sustainable Development Goals

1 Introduction

1.1 Background
As Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 13, urges all concerned to “take urgent action to combat climate
change and its impacts”, urban areas are increasingly being deemed the battleground locations for tackling
climate change. Climate change is without a doubt one of the major environmental concerns for cities, since
more than half of the world’s population live in cities. Additionally, cities are also responsible for nearly 70%
of the global energy consumption and greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, which are the main factors causing
climate change.
Realizing this, countries are progressing towards adopting urban governance strategies which address
climate change. Efforts to institutionalize climate-change governance in urban areas indicate that cities have
gained traction in climate policies. With cities being hubs of innovation and technological revolution, there
has been significant debate on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for dealing
with the grave issue of climate change.

1.2 Response

Whilst cities are not perfectly functioning machines, they cannot also be considered a mixture of several
random ecosystems driven by human actions either. It is important to understand that cities are capable of
polluting as much as they have the ability to conserve and develop.

While it has been acknowledged that cities can play a pivotal role in tackling climate change, the actual
pathway for such change is still to be effectively determined. Several countries and cities have taken a leap
forward and incorporated legislation and guidelines which support these activities. These guidelines and
legislation are based on the role of cities as drivers of technological innovation. Urban stakeholders will
collectively bring about the practical implementation of these technological innovations, scale, recognize
gaps and aim to reduce carbon emissions overall.
In line with the above, this case study will explore the initiatives adopted in Scotland to deal with climate
change and reduce the carbon footprint.

2 Vision and implementation

Scotland has adopted the “Public Sector Green ICT Strategy” and “Low Carbon Economic Strategy” to support
ICTs deployment in their public organizations in an energy efficient manner, with the overall aim of reducing
the carbon footprint of these organizations. The term “Green ICTs” in this case is used with refer to ICTs
which are utilized for climate change adaptation and/or. Accordingly, these Green ICTs aim to reduce
emissions, improve energy efficiency and other waste produce throughout the ICT lifecycle.
Within Scotland’s public sector, the services offered are exclusively underpinned by ICTs. Keeping in mind
the potential of Green ICTs, this extensive usage of ICTs in Scotland offers potential to contribute to a greener
environment by reducing waste and emissions.
Scotland’s Green ICT strategy also recognizes that ICTs can be a double-edged sword when it comes to
environmental issues. On the one hand, ICTs could generate significant greenhouse gas emissions and on the
other hand it can function as a key enabler for the generation of renewable energy, provision of urban
services and monitoring of greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition to the Green ICT strategy, Scotland, through the Smart Cities Strategic Intervention has been
allocated 10 million pounds to make the cities in the region more energy efficient and environmentally
friendly, using innovative technologies. Glasgow City Council is the leading partner in this smart-city
intervention. The Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council will be working together with the Scottish
Cities Alliance with the support of other cities including Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh, Inverness, Perth and
Stirling, to further the Scottish smart-city agenda. Within this agenda, Scotland aims to:

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