Catanzaro and Crotone are the two of the 33 cities that have signed the Charter for Nature-Positive Citieswhose objective is to overcome the crisis and ecological by focusing on a positive role for the nature of cities through 10 measures.
Together with the two Calabrian cities, they have joined Bologna, Brescia, Carini, Casalecchio di Reno, Cervia, Cesena, Città di Castello, Correggio, Florence, Genoa, Imola, L’Aquila, Lecce, Legnano, Livorno, Milan, Monza, Naples, Olbia, Parma, Pianezza, Pistoia , Prato, Ravenna, Rho, Rome, Turin, Treviso, Trezzano sul Naviglio, Vignola, Viterbo.
The Charter was presented in Milan during the National Green City Conference organized by Green City Network and the Gedi Group and, on this occasion, the ten measures necessary to accelerate the nature-positive transition were indicated, as «cities, where the majority of greenhouse gas emissions and environmental impacts are generated natural capital, can become protagonists of the green transition”, he explained Edo Ronchi, President of the Foundation for Sustainable Development.
For Ronchi, in fact, «the crisis climate change does not allow us to slow down our commitment” and, for this reason, “the sooner we become aware of the urgent need to build a positive relationship with nature in cities, the sooner we will be able to mitigate the climate crisis and reduce our vulnerability”.
Here are the ten measures: Promote sharing, knowledge and information on the value of natural capital and ecosystem services in cities – A «positive natures» strategy aims at ad cities a well-being that is not based on the consumption of naturebut on its protection, its restoration, its increase. Restore degraded natural capital intervening with consistent, demanding and multi-year actions on groundwater, often contaminated, on cemented waterways and in a poor ecological state, on polluted areas and soils and green areas and trees, which require greater care and maintenance.
Stop land consumption recovering and using existing buildings more efficiently, with greater shared use of offices, enhancing remote working even in the towns and small villages of the internal areas. Increase natural capital by massively growing trees, green areas, peri-urban forestation, green roofs and the greening of building envelopes.
Save the extraction and consumption of natural resources supporting the transition from a linear and dissipative production and consumption model, with a high consumption of natural resources, to a circular and regenerative model.
Strengthen heat wave adaptation measures using and strengthening green infrastructures, increasing the use of lower temperatures of groundwater and water bodies for cooling and with binding bioclimatic guidelines in building interventions Implement the energy transition reducing fossil energy consumption in transport and improving the energy efficiency of buildings, doing much more for the production and use of renewable energy sources, also making better use of the new opportunities offered by development from renewable energy communities.
Protect water as a scarce natural resource rapidly eliminating losses from water networks and promoting water saving, reusing grey, purified and controlled water, reusing rainwater, spreading dual systems for drinking water and water for other uses. Reduce vulnerability to flooding and floods increasing the water absorption capacity in soils and green areas, reducing the waterproofing of pavements, increasing the lamination capacity with the restoration and expansion of riverbeds and floodplain areas and with floodable wet and green areas.
Implement a Nature Positive Transition Action Plan not only short-term to 2030, but multi-annual to 2050, to implement the proposed measures in an integrated and coordinated way, establishing the resources – financial and human – necessary to implement them, preparing it by involving citizens and interested stakeholders. (rrm)
