A flurry of announcements on Tuesday capped off the final day at the United Nations Climate Summit in New York City, with over $2 billion being earmarked for the global Green Climate Fund. CK’s own Ashley Renders reported that the fund dedicated to assisting developing countries tackle climate change remains woefully underfunded, with an estimated $10 billion needed to get the ball rolling.
The Chinese government, meanwhile, vowed for the first time to take action to reduce its emissions. "As a responsible…major developing country, China will make even greater effort to address climate change," said Vice-Premier Zhang Gaoli. He told the assembly that China is focused on scaling down carbon emissions per unit of GDP by 45 per cent by 2020.
Elsewhere in The Big Apple, New York City’s comptroller Scott Stringer called for the municipal government to begin issuing Green Bonds for sustainability-minded projects over the next few years. The New York City Comptroller’s office is expected to release a report on the subject Wednesday afternoon. New York City would be the first municipality to adopt this new funding mechanism, although the Climate Bond Initiative estimates that worldwide green bond issuance will hit $40 billion in 2014.
North of the border, Canadian opponents of hydraulic fracturing were heartened by the victory of Brian Gallant’s Liberal Party in the New Brunswick provincial election on Monday. While elected on a platform that called for a temporary moratorium on fracking in the province, Gallant continues to face pressure on how this plan will work in practice.
Finally, the Pembina Institute and the Royal Bank of Canada released a new survey this morning on what homebuyers prefer in the Greater Toronto Area. It found that “81 per cent of homebuyers prefer walkable, transit-friendly neighbourhoods to car-dependent locations.” This was found to be true even if it meant downsizing to a smaller house, apartment or condominium.
