Tackling Embodied Emissions for Carbon Neutral Cities

As ambitious cities make gains reducing traditional Scope 1 and 2 sources of urban emissions, from transportation to heating/cooling and generating electricity, some are starting to strive to reduce harder to reach emissions embodied in the materials, goods and services consumed in cities. While emissions embodied in the built environment contribute a significant share of global greenhouse gas emissions cities are only beginning to identify policy levers to effectively reduce such emissions: from zoning and land-use decisions through permitting, circular public procurement, regulating construction and demolition as well as material upcycling and recycling. From Oslo and Helsinki to Amsterdam and Lille, cities in Europe are moving ahead rapidly.

Dr. Simone Mangili is a Planner. As Executive Director of the Carbon Neutral Cities Alliance (CNCA), a global network of cities at the vanguard of climate action, Simone leads CNCA’s strategic development and initiatives aimed at supporting member cities in driving innovation and setting the course for climate-neutral cities worldwide. Having worked widely in the US, Europe and the Middle East on a broad range of initiatives aimed at securing just and climate-positive futures, Simone has over 20 years of experience across local government, nonprofits and the private sector. Visiting Fellow with the German Marshall Fund of the United States Cities Program, led sustainability and climate policy in the Mayor’s office of the City of Torino, served as traveling faculty in the School for International Training’s (SIT) Cities in the 21st Century study program, developed SIT’s Rethinking Food Security program and has been an external lecturer at the Polytechnic University of Turin in the MSc in Urban and Territorial Planning.

For more information, please contact claudia.cassatella@polito.it