By Kate Godding, Senior Manager, Business & Innovation
Having successfully supported climate solution co-creation and implementation in the five cities of Athens, Melbourne, Rio de Janeiro, Seattle & Sydney, C40 is delighted to welcome Tel Aviv-Yafo onboard the C40 City Solutions Platform (CSP) programme.
Photo by: Guy Yechiely צילום: גיא יחיאלי
C40 research shows that cities are looking to collaborate with the private sector and other stakeholders to identify innovative solutions to their key climate challenges. However, there is a lack of systemic approaches to cross-sectoral collaboration; one of the main barriers to harnessing these sectors’ potential for swift innovation towards achieving international targets such as the Paris Agreement and the Sustainable Development Goals.
The CSP enables early, pre-procurement engagement between cities, the private sector, academic institutions and other solution providers to accelerate the deployment of climate solutions. By providing cities and solution providers a program for working together on specific climate challenges at an earlier stage than usual, the CSP ensures that the actors reach a common understanding of the challenges in order to co-create innovative solutions. Through its neutral and unbiased platform, the CSP facilitates meaningful and trustful relationship building and high-impact routes to solution implementation.
Between 14th and 19th May 2019, Tel Aviv-Yafo will host the 2019 Eurovision Song Contest. The City wishes to host the most sustainable and climate friendly Eurovision to date by using the event as a platform and example for future events. This vision is being supported by the national government of Israel and the organization behind the Eurovision, European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
Through the City Solutions Platform, the City is especially interested engaging solution providers that will enable them to host the event with a focus on zero waste and sustainable food. By enabling collaboration across sectors, the City Solutions Platform will empower the City of Tel-Aviv to co-create climate solutions safely and effectively with different innovators whilst becoming a global thought leader on sustainable events hosting.
These solutions will reduce the City’s carbon footprint for large public events and mitigate the City's overall environmental impact. To achieve this, Tel Aviv-Yafo would like to utilize existing municipal venues and spaces to transform them into green spaces, which will function and demonstrate sustainable living. The project is in line with the objectives and planning of Tel Aviv-Yafo's' Urban Strategy and Resilience Plan, which aspire to enhance the city's sustainability and mitigation policies.
The City of Tel Aviv-Yafo’s participation in the C40 City Solutions Platform will support the City’s long-standing status as a global start-up centre with an ecosystem of innovation, as well as showcasing their commitment to sustainable events hosting. Combined with a municipal strategy for sustainability, Tel Aviv-Yafo has a strong commitment to attain zero waste by 2030, which should be achieved through collaboration with businesses and entrepreneurs in the waste and circular economy sectors. The city has also created a “Green Label for Restaurants, Bars and Cafes” and this year dozens of businesses were awarded the Green Label.
We look forward to seeing the outcomes from the City of Tel Aviv-Yafo’s involvement in the programme. If you would like to be involved in the Tel Aviv-Yafo City Solutions Platform, please contact kgodding@c40.org.