The Covid-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way we experience urban spaces. In no time at all, there was a mass migration to the suburbs in densely populated city centers as people were looking for greener and larger spaces.
If the pandemic is an indication of the challenges of a changing climate, what lessons can we apply to create healthier, greener communities?
On July 1, to join Mark Landler, the head of the Times’ London office and expert on the latest episode of Netting Zero, “How do we build our houses and cities for a sustainable future?“While we discuss how this change can open up new opportunities for sustainable buildings and urban spaces (RSVP above to join the conversation).
The speakers who will accompany Mark Landler on July 1st include:
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Henrietta Elizabeth Thompson, Barbados Ambassador on Climate Change, Small Island Developing States and the Law of the Sea
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Pierre-André de Chalendar, Chairman, Saint-Gobain
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Nigel topping, Climate champion at the highest level for COP 26
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Toni Griffin, Professor in Practice, Harvard University Graduate School of Design
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Margaret Chinwe Anadu, Global Head of Sustainability and Impact, Goldman Sachs
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Cristina Gamboa, CEO, World Green Building Council
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Gillian Charlesworth, CEO, BRE
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Sheela Patel, Founding Director, Society for the Promotion of Regional Resource Centers
The session will also include a conversation about shaping our future:
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Thomas Heatherwick, Founder and Design Director, Heatherwick Studio
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Bill Wasik, Associate Editor of New York Times Magazine
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Whitney Richardson, International Event Manager at The Times
What is netting zero?
A world after the Covid 19 crisis is currently difficult to imagine. With the lifting of social distancing and the resumption of the economy, we will still have to face the great existential challenge of our time: the climate emergency. How can we reorganize our economies and societies in such a way that the urgency of climate protection is recognized? How can we face the climate emergency head-on and look for transformative solutions for the sectors and industries that cause the majority of our CO2 emissions?
These are the underlying questions Netting zero, a series of virtual climate-themed events hosted by the New York Times. Many of these topics will also determine our program for the New York Times Climate Hub, our first hybrid festival, which we will host in November this year together with COP 26 in Glasgow.
Would you like to find out about past episodes of netting zero? You can check them all out below now.
Episode 8: Support Net Zero through a circular economy
Net zero is an ambitious goal that cannot be achieved with our current economic model. To build a truly sustainable world, we need to fundamentally reshape the economy to replace our linear take, make, waste approach and create a circular economy that promotes sustainability through design.
In this episode, Andrew Ross Sorkin, the Times editor-in-chief of DealBook, was speaking to Lady Ellen MacArthur, together with experts, decision-makers and cultural icons to create circular solutions for resilient communities and economies.
Episode 7: Technology, Climate Solutions and Public Health
There are many links between climate change and public health, but what can technology do to address new solutions?
Moderated on Earth Day by Rebecca Blumenstein, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of The Times, this session explored how the climate crisis is affecting our health and how technology can help us accelerate solutions for a greener, healthier future.
Episode 6: Water and oceans, the elixir of life on our planet
Oceans are a crucial part of the biosphere, they take up carbon dioxide, absorb more than 90 percent of the excess heat trapped on earth by carbon emissions, and produce half of the global oxygen. But as we continue to pump greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, the pollution is taking its toll.
This episode, moderated by Henry Fountain, a climate reporter for the Times, analyzed how communities and governments can unlock and accelerate ocean-facing solutions without repeating the mistakes of the past.
Episode 5: Breaking our fossil fuel addiction
The Covid-19 crisis crashed energy demand and oil prices fell to a staggering $ 37.63 a barrel in late April. But can this shock be used to overcome global dependence on fossil fuels, or will the “new normal” end up looking similar to the old one?
In this episode, Ivan Penna, The Times energy correspondent, spoke to experts studying how we can accelerate the rise of renewables to meet urgent global needs during the boom.
Episode 4: Transforming the Financial System for a Carbon-Free Future
Investors traditionally have one duty: to generate the greatest possible return on investment for their shareholders. It’s a model that has brought us to the brink of climate disaster, and we need a new understanding of value and return that goes beyond the short-term and drives resources towards scalable solutions.
Moderated by Chris Flavelle, a climate correspondent for the Times, we asked this episode how we can fundamentally reshape financial markets to make responsible, climate-conscious investing the rule rather than the exception.
Episode 3: Solutions for climate-friendly food systems
The foods we grow and consume have a huge impact on climate change, with agricultural production accounting for 20 to 30 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. If we want to achieve the international goal of net zero emissions by 2050, we must quickly implement radical but achievable solutions. How can we significantly reduce emissions in key sectors of the food system while maintaining nutritional balance and food security?
Led by Somini Sengupta, international climate reporter at The Times, examined this episode on how we can significantly reduce emissions in key sectors of the food system.
Episode 2: The new carbon-free normal for cities
While the clock is ticking for climate protection measures, our speakers examined how urban climate initiatives can be transferred from the experimental to the everyday.
What are the winning innovations in building materials, energy and mobility that can be used to make cities more sustainable and accessible? Moderated by Brad Plumer, a climate reporter for the Times, this episode explored what mindsets, models and approaches could take urban “laboratories” beyond pilot programs to the next level of systemic change.
Episode 1: Applying the hard-earned lessons of Covid-19 to climate change
This year, coronavirus-related coronavirus corporations have adjusted production, governments poured money into technology, central banks approved extraordinary stimulus packages, and societies mobilized to protect the weakest.
In our first episode of Netting Zero, Hannah Fairfield, the Times climate editor, asked experts if this global change created the blueprint for tackling climate change.
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You can also find out more about The New York Times Climate Hub, our first hybrid climate festival set to coincide with COP26 in Glasgow this November.
Netting Zero is made by Hannah Fairfield, Whitney Richardson, Sophie Lambin, Paul Samuels, Rona Perry, Joanne Perry, Mark Potter, Tess Korten, Eleanor Ripoll, Natalie Aidoo-Davies, and Troy Hyde. Special thanks go to Stephen Dunbar-Johnson, John Scully, Nicole Taylor, Elizabeth Weinstein, Douglas Alteen, Nia Decaille, Kate Carrington, Holly Adams, Ela Stopford Sackville, Elaine Chen, Pascale Dauptain, and Maria Cortes-Monroy.