The Scottish Low Carbon Investment Conference

"Successful cities will be those that achieve alignment of the four pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, economic and institutional. Unsuccessful cities will be those that continue to see these four pillars pulling in different directions."

Q: Why are cities so important to the development of the low-carbon economy?

A: Economic activity in the developing as well as the developed world is city focused and city driven. Cities are tireless consumers of resources and emitters of waste. As focal points for development it is likely that the demand for skills and infrastructure to drive a shift to a low carbon economy will be at its greatest in our cities.

Q: What are the challenges in the current climate?

A: In times of constrained finances the sustainability agenda may be seen as a diversion from the delivery of core to citizens. If we accept what the scientists are telling us about climate change then radical, rapid and profound changes are necessary to the traditional resource intensive economic growth model.

Q: What kind of approach is required to make progress in this area?

A: We consider that a multi-faceted and complex approach is required to address the sustainability agenda. Simply focussing on CO2 emissions (albeit they are extremely important) is unlikely to achieve the desired outcome and may even have the adverse effect. A strategy should have mitigation measures against the already inevitable impacts of climate change. It must consider not only preserving the cities and the city regions themselves but sustaining the basic resources of food, water and energy and developing more efficient supply chains.

Q: What are the key factors to unlocking the sustainable cities agenda?

A:Strong political leadership and collaboration between partnership organisations are important – and we must remember that sustainability and economic development are inextricably linked in policy terms and that the drive for economic recovery will keep it that way for some time. Investment appraisal must overcome the difficulty in valuing long term unpredictable benefits often associated with sustainability strategies

Q: Are individuals and businesses ready to accept the low-carbon, low-resource city?

A:Projects are not at a scale or intensity to convince people and businesses we are heading towards low carbon, low resource cities. We have considered three key areas of policy intervention to move the sustainable cities forward: governance, investment appraisal and city financing instruments.

Q: How important is the human factor?

A: How individuals, communities and organisations respond to the initiatives and challenges thrown out by the sustainability agenda will in large measure determine their success. Whether we are talking about buy-in to major infrastructure projects, uptake of consumer energy savings initiatives or community projects, the "human factor" cannot be ignored. Effective engagement is a hugely powerful tool, and government across the UK is clearly seeking to harness this both within and beyond the sustainability sector.

Q: What might the sustainable city of the future look like?

A: A sustainable city needs to be flexible, agile, responsive and resilient. Crucially it needs to serve its purpose for its citizens and businesses. Successful cities will be those that achieve alignment of the four pillars of sustainability: environmental, social, economic and institutional. Unsuccessful cities will be those that continue to see these four pillars pulling in different directions.