City of Boulder / Urban Drawdown Initiative
Facilitating the Dissemination of Urban Natural Climate Solutions (NCS): Consulting Support to Vanguard Cities Across the US
Brett KenCairn
Executive Summary
With the failure of national governments to lead climate action, cities are in many settings leading innovation in ambitious climate actions. Until recently, this work has focused on emissions reduction but with the newly recognized urgency to scale carbon drawdown and manage landscapes for critical resilience enhancing ecosystem services, cities are now mobilizing to build out this new sector.
The City of Boulder, Colorado and the Urban Sustainability Directors Network jointly formed the Urban Drawdown Initiative (UDI) to accelerate the development of carbon drawdown strategies that simultaneously improve the resilience, productivity, and equity-based community development of urban areas. UDI is working with cities and other leading climate action organizations to build tools and systems that identify opportunities to harness and amplify the abilities of the living landscapes in and around cities. This both captures carbon and uses this carbon to enhance critical life support services (shade for heat management, water infiltration for stormwater management, capturing pollutants for increased air, water, & soil quality, pollinator protection for increased biodiversity, etc.)
UDI is seeking 3 MENV students to be trained in the leading-edge practices and tools to identify climate action opportunities for mitigation, adaptation & resilience, and equity in managing urban landscapes and resources. A process guide outlining how to identify and model carbon drawdown opportunities in cities has been created by a previous MENV capstone team. These students will be trained in this process guide, continue to refine the guide, and consult for a group of leading cities that are pioneering the application of these tools.