Urban Tech Forward proves our cities need a climate upgrade

Last month Poland’s capital city hosted an event dedicated to the future of cities as decarbonised centres. We reflect on the conference and its key takeaways.

We’re in the midst of a green revolution. Or at the very least we ought to be. As more people reside in cities, the list of challenges urban areas face grows, forcing us to rethink the way we live and build. Simply put, we need better cities.

‘Together we can push forward to create cities that are carbon-free, resilient, and inclusive,’ were the words that opened Urban Tech Forward, a global conference for urban technology professionals, which took place last month.

On the first day, industry leaders were adamant that our cities are not up to standard, with cement buildings, nerve wracking traffic flows, ever-growing waste and more modern scourges that require urgent solutions. ‘If someone has to do it, it has to be us’, as Conan Lauterpacht, Founding Partner at Sustainable Future Ventures, put it, betraying the stance of an industry. Suffice to say, then, cities are primed to undergo a real transformation.

The price for going green

One of the key obstacles to tackling the journey to net-zero cities is the rise in cost. Many of the latest technologies require additional investments and can become a burden on citizens, not least with cost of living is already at an all-time high. ‘The majority of the population cannot afford it’, admitted Katarzyna Wszola, Director of Innovation at Veolia Poland. 

Nevertheless, as the number of startups in the industry increases every year, the search for the right time, money and sustainability balance is unfolding at an intense pace. At the event, urban tech investors had no doubt that pouring money into green tech will pay off and is a key step towards a more environmentally-friendly future. ‘There’s a real incentive for the private sector to move forward’, said Benjamin Kafri, Global Head of Innovation, Client Relations and Partnerships at Bloomberg NEF.

A push for more regulations

Government intervention is often thought of as restraining. However, at Urban Tech Forward, entrepreneurs actually called for more. As Andreas Winter-Extra, Partner at Kompas VC explained: ‘Regulation is often seen as a threat but is actually a friend.’

A lot of attention was brought to creating incentives to develop and adopt green technologies – by setting requirements, accompanied by investment and creating a tipping point for their implementation. Moreover, regulations level up the playing field and allow the planning of investments. ‘Truly, regulation is the best incentive”, concluded Edelio Bermejo, Head of Global R&D at Holcim Innovation Center.

Construction industry reconsidered

The climate footprint of buildings is still often overlooked. The environmental impact of cement, for example, has only really gotten attention over the last few years, despite producing more carbon emissions than air travel.

As Juan Nieto, GP & Founding Partner at Zacua Ventures, points out, ‘the use of cement is one of the biggest climate threats… The time we have to invest into decarbonisation is limited’. As such it is no surprise many speakers at Urban Tech Forward focused on construction and finding solutions that offer the right balance of cost and efficiency.

Image: Urban Tech Forward