Page 3 - The 9th Green Standards Week

We, the participants of the 9th Green Standards Week, have acknowledged that:

1. Cities act as engines of national economic which, in turn, is leading to more such products
development. Strong urban economies are being disposed of. E-waste has already become the
essential for reducing poverty and providing fastest growing waste stream, with more than 50
adequate housing, infrastructure, education, health, million tonnes of e-waste being recorded in 2018.
safety, and basic services. Only around 20 per cent of this e-waste is managed
in an environmentally sound manner.
2. Cities worldwide are facing increasing challenges,
including those brought on by urbanisation, 4. There is increasing concern about the
climate change, and accelerated globalisation. environmental performance of frontier
Cities are facing increasing risks from rising sea technologies. The number of data centres that are
levels, powerful storms, excessive heat, the loss being built to power cloud computing, different IoT
of biodiversity, and other factors. Sprawling applications, 5G infrastructures, AI, or blockchain
cities are also struggling with heightened energy is increasing at an alarming rate. Data centres
consumption, deepening social and economic are some of the biggest consumers of energy.
inequality, unsustainable consumption/production Compounded by the growing number of ICTs,
patterns, traffic congestion, increasing trends there is an urgent need to study the environmental
of urban poverty, climate risks, air pollution, the impacts of frontier technologies with the active
loss of biodiversity and other challenges. Solving support of the research community.
these challenges requires new models of citizen
engagement, new ways of cooperation between 5. Other issues, including the interoperability of
various institutions and new ways of making digital systems, cybersecurity, privacy and rising
decisions. concerns over data ethics, responsibility and
ownership are also barring cities from fully realising
3. The growing environmental footprint of the ICT the vision of a smart sustainable city. In addition,
sector cannot be overlooked. Cities are already close to half of the world’s population remains
responsible for 60 to 80 per cent of all energy offline, and the digital skill gaps are growing wider
consumption. Over 70 per cent of energy-related as cities move towards a data-driven future.
carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions can be traced
back to urban areas, and cities produce between 37 6. Smart sustainable cities harness the full potential
and 49 per cent of overall global greenhouse gas of ICTs and frontier technologies to address
(CO2 equivalent) emissions. Rapid innovation and these challenges, offering the clearest pathway to
decreasing costs are encouraging the production achieving the SDGs. Smart sustainable cities are the
of an increasing number of electronic products, foundation stone for achieving the SDGs.

Therefore, we, the participants of the 9th Green Standards Week, declare a call to action, including:
1. Connecting smart sustainable cities with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs): The SDGs provide a
concrete and measurable framework that city stakeholders can use as guidance for adopting a people-centric
approach to smart sustainable cities. Initiatives such as the United for Smart Sustainable Cities (U4SSC) have
developed useful guidelines and effective tools that support cities in aligning their smart strategies with the SDGs,
including the Key Performance Indicators for Smart Sustainable Cities. They also offer a collaborative platform
where stakeholders can gather to engage in global dialogues and generate consensus on key issues that would
help overcome the challenges of smart sustainable cities.