WEBVTT 00:00:02.385 --> 00:00:04.590 align:middle line:84% You know, cities are probably the best place 00:00:04.590 --> 00:00:06.990 align:middle line:90% to see action around climate. 00:00:06.990 --> 00:00:10.200 align:middle line:84% Our systems are what's driving a lot of climate change. 00:00:17.640 --> 00:00:20.040 align:middle line:84% And if we can actually plan the city in a better way, 00:00:20.040 --> 00:00:21.990 align:middle line:84% be it with renewable energy or even 00:00:21.990 --> 00:00:24.120 align:middle line:84% reforestation in an urban area, that 00:00:24.120 --> 00:00:26.925 align:middle line:84% would be a huge impact on climate change. 00:00:26.925 --> 00:00:30.300 align:middle line:84% The impact is most felt at the city level. 00:00:30.300 --> 00:00:35.280 align:middle line:84% And you are the first point of response in any activities. 00:01:09.815 --> 00:01:12.895 align:middle line:84% And I think climate change presents a number of challenges 00:01:12.895 --> 00:01:16.210 align:middle line:84% - certainly the impact of extreme weather, 00:01:16.210 --> 00:01:22.070 align:middle line:84% the deep drought, the fires that come along with that. 00:01:22.070 --> 00:01:23.680 align:middle line:84% We've seen our air quality retreat 00:01:23.680 --> 00:01:26.440 align:middle line:84% after decades of progress to some of the worst air quality, 00:01:26.440 --> 00:01:31.150 align:middle line:84% even in the midst of a pandemic, that we've seen in decades. 00:01:31.150 --> 00:01:33.340 align:middle line:84% We've started to have many more erratic weather 00:01:33.340 --> 00:01:34.630 align:middle line:90% events than before. 00:01:34.630 --> 00:01:37.330 align:middle line:84% And I think that is just a pattern for what we now 00:01:37.330 --> 00:01:38.360 align:middle line:90% know as climate change. 00:01:38.360 --> 00:01:42.070 align:middle line:84% So monsoons have reduced from 120 days, on an average, 00:01:42.070 --> 00:01:45.190 align:middle line:90% to about 72 days to 75 days. 00:01:45.190 --> 00:01:47.290 align:middle line:84% But the volume of monsoon has actually 00:01:47.290 --> 00:01:50.170 align:middle line:84% hit double that of the 120 days volume. 00:01:50.170 --> 00:01:53.250 align:middle line:90% So I think that is really scary. 00:01:53.250 --> 00:01:55.930 align:middle line:84% One of the key challenges that we have faced over the years 00:01:55.930 --> 00:01:57.610 align:middle line:90% is flooding. 00:01:57.610 --> 00:02:00.220 align:middle line:84% The rainfall pattern has changed, 00:02:00.220 --> 00:02:02.860 align:middle line:84% coupled with inadequate infrastructure 00:02:02.860 --> 00:02:09.100 align:middle line:84% to accommodate running water, and sometimes sadly lives 00:02:09.100 --> 00:02:09.770 align:middle line:90% are lost. 00:02:14.223 --> 00:02:15.640 align:middle line:84% We're looking at those things that 00:02:15.640 --> 00:02:18.197 align:middle line:84% have immediate payoff as well as the things 00:02:18.197 --> 00:02:19.780 align:middle line:84% that we have to do that are long term. 00:02:19.780 --> 00:02:22.570 align:middle line:84% We mapped where there's shade in Los Angeles 00:02:22.570 --> 00:02:23.620 align:middle line:90% and where there's not. 00:02:23.620 --> 00:02:25.510 align:middle line:84% And we looked at putting new trees 00:02:25.510 --> 00:02:27.880 align:middle line:90% where there weren't old trees. 00:02:27.880 --> 00:02:29.770 align:middle line:84% We looked at how we're paving our streets 00:02:29.770 --> 00:02:33.160 align:middle line:84% and are pioneering some of the first light paving 00:02:33.160 --> 00:02:36.160 align:middle line:84% of an asphalt that literally brings the temperature down 00:02:36.160 --> 00:02:37.540 align:middle line:90% by as much as 10 degrees. 00:02:37.540 --> 00:02:41.605 align:middle line:84% Because people need to feel cooler when we hit a drought. 00:02:41.605 --> 00:02:45.220 align:middle line:84% Most of our natural soil area is getting 00:02:45.220 --> 00:02:48.470 align:middle line:84% covered with artificial elements like concrete or asphalt. 00:02:48.470 --> 00:02:51.030 align:middle line:84% So there is no water that's percolating into the ground. 00:02:51.030 --> 00:02:52.720 align:middle line:84% So we've created percolation ponds 00:02:52.720 --> 00:02:54.670 align:middle line:84% where it if you go down into the aquifer 00:02:54.670 --> 00:02:56.830 align:middle line:84% we can really have water tables rising hopefully 00:02:56.830 --> 00:02:57.820 align:middle line:90% after some years. 00:02:57.820 --> 00:03:00.255 align:middle line:90% That's what we're working on. 00:03:00.255 --> 00:03:03.730 align:middle line:84% We are building heavy infrastructure of stop-drain 00:03:03.730 --> 00:03:07.960 align:middle line:84% and dredging our water bodies so that we can reduce 00:03:07.960 --> 00:03:10.760 align:middle line:90% the incidence of flooding. 00:03:10.760 --> 00:03:15.280 align:middle line:84% And we have also started the greening of open spaces 00:03:15.280 --> 00:03:18.820 align:middle line:84% in Accra so that we can get more fresh air. 00:03:54.305 --> 00:03:56.790 align:middle line:84% The burning of waste is a main source 00:03:56.790 --> 00:04:00.570 align:middle line:84% of emission in Accra, about 60 per cent of it. 00:04:00.570 --> 00:04:04.590 align:middle line:84% So we are promoting more recycling and reusing of waste. 00:04:04.590 --> 00:04:09.180 align:middle line:84% And our aim is that by 2030 we should 00:04:09.180 --> 00:04:13.500 align:middle line:84% halve the amount of waste that goes to the landfill site. 00:04:13.500 --> 00:04:16.860 align:middle line:84% We are also encouraging a lot of companies 00:04:16.860 --> 00:04:21.375 align:middle line:84% to adopt renewable energy, especially solar. 00:04:21.375 --> 00:04:24.630 align:middle line:84% We have a target of at least 25 per cent of energy 00:04:24.630 --> 00:04:26.700 align:middle line:84% to be clean and renewable by 2025. 00:04:26.700 --> 00:04:27.960 align:middle line:90% And we're trying to meet that. 00:04:27.960 --> 00:04:30.630 align:middle line:84% One of the things that I've been able to luckily push 00:04:30.630 --> 00:04:32.587 align:middle line:90% is solarising our highways. 00:04:32.587 --> 00:04:34.170 align:middle line:84% So we are having this one huge highway 00:04:34.170 --> 00:04:36.753 align:middle line:84% connecting the two capitals of our states - Mumbai and Nagpur. 00:04:36.753 --> 00:04:40.050 align:middle line:84% On that highway we will be able to generate about 230 megawatts 00:04:40.050 --> 00:04:41.550 align:middle line:90% of clean solar energy. 00:04:41.550 --> 00:04:43.320 align:middle line:84% Along with that we floated tenders 00:04:43.320 --> 00:04:46.530 align:middle line:84% for floating solar panels of 80 megawatts in one of our lakes. 00:04:46.530 --> 00:04:49.030 align:middle line:84% And we're going to do for all five or six of our lakes. 00:04:49.030 --> 00:04:52.470 align:middle line:84% We are also having a huge push for urban forests 00:04:52.470 --> 00:04:54.510 align:middle line:84% that we initiated about two years ago. 00:05:30.300 --> 00:05:32.460 align:middle line:84% More parks, more walkability, more bikes, 00:05:32.460 --> 00:05:34.500 align:middle line:84% better public transit, a place that 00:05:34.500 --> 00:05:37.830 align:middle line:84% moved from being the car capital of the world to a place that's 00:05:37.830 --> 00:05:40.260 align:middle line:84% now the transit capital of the world. 00:05:40.260 --> 00:05:42.660 align:middle line:84% We're taking off our gas plants that right now 00:05:42.660 --> 00:05:46.050 align:middle line:84% generate much of our energy, and actually building 00:05:46.050 --> 00:05:48.210 align:middle line:84% renewable energy projects, some of the largest, 00:05:48.210 --> 00:05:51.390 align:middle line:84% for instance, solar projects in the United States of America. 00:05:51.390 --> 00:05:53.760 align:middle line:84% But I think the thing I'm maybe most proud of 00:05:53.760 --> 00:05:56.400 align:middle line:84% is that we're taking all of our waste water 00:05:56.400 --> 00:05:58.830 align:middle line:84% and going to be recycling that and reduce 00:05:58.830 --> 00:06:01.110 align:middle line:90% the emissions that we have. 00:06:01.110 --> 00:06:03.180 align:middle line:84% Because we use a lot of electricity 00:06:03.180 --> 00:06:05.070 align:middle line:84% to bring that water to Los Angeles today. 00:06:05.070 --> 00:06:07.050 align:middle line:90% So it's big and it's small. 00:06:07.050 --> 00:06:10.440 align:middle line:84% It's neighbourhood-based and it's systemic as well. 00:06:10.440 --> 00:06:12.360 align:middle line:84% But we're very excited to be able to do that 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:13.953 align:middle line:84% and to show the world you can still 00:06:13.953 --> 00:06:15.870 align:middle line:84% have a great city and a great quality of life, 00:06:15.870 --> 00:06:19.520 align:middle line:84% even as you transform your environmental work.