Sustainable Cities key to fighting "ecological credit crunch"

“Today humanity is using 25 per cent more resources annually than the earth is able to renew. With the urban population expected to double between now and the year 2050 to 6.4 billion, we must find ways in which to provide housing, food and transport that donot provoke a complete collapse of our ecosystems,” Mr. Leape will say.

One Planet Business is a WWF corporate engagement initiative aimed at transforming business practices and markets. In his speech, Mr. Leape will highlight other exampleswhere WWF has developed partnerships with industry sectors, such as the FSC (ForestStewardship Council) and MSC (Marine Stewardship Council) initiatives which havehelped bring sustainable wood and seafood products into mainstream markets.

The conference has been organised in partnership with Green Power Conferences, and will take place from September 30 to October 1st at the President Wilson Hotel in Geneva. It will feature case studies of WWF’s “One Planet Living” partnerships, including the Masdar City project in Abu Dhabi – a $22 billion solar-powered city that will be entirely car-free and produce zero waste.

Managing Director of Green Power Conferences, Nadim Chaudhry expressed his delight to be partnering with WWF, “This important global meeting dovetails neatly with Green Power Conference’s portfolio of events in the sustainability sector. It is an honour to be working in conjunction with WWF’s “One Planet Living” initiative and it is in keeping with Green Power’s mission statement - to provide high quality industry meetings to help accelerate change to a green economy. The conference is structured to tackle vital global issues and we are immensely looking forward to meeting delegates and speakers in Geneva”

“In the 20 years to 1994, the world’s population grew by 40 per cent but cement consumption by 80 per cent. Housing in urban centres accounts for a greater share of our ecological footprint than food or transport. If we are to achieve our goal of reducing global ecological footprint to a sustainable level by 2050, we will need innovative partnerships between business, governments and civil society,” Mr Leape will add.

He will be joined by Stefan Behling of Foster and Partners, Konrad Otto-Zimmerman – Secretary General of ICLEI: Local Governments for Sustainability – and Malcolm Smith from Arup, the company developing the Dongtan eco-city in China. Other speakers include Professor Peter Droege from the Urban Climate Change Network, Dr. Jonathan Woetzel from McKinsey and Co., and Pierre Laconte, President of the International Society of City and Regional Planners.

For more information, visit www.panda.org/oneplanetliving or

http://www.greenpowerconferences.com/renewablesmarkets/sustainable_cities.html

 

Eduardo Gonçalves (WWF International): +44 792 202 6447
Pia Dorfinger (Green Power Conferences): +44 207 0990 600