The Mumbai Godrej Garden City, a township in Ahmedabad is among 16 founding projects of the Climate Positive Development Program, a Clinton Climate Initiative (CCI) program that will support the development of large-scale urban projects to help cities grow in a climate positive manner.
Climate positive real estate developments will strive to reduce the amount of on-site carbon dioxide emissions to below zero.
The Climate Positive Development Program was launched by former president Clinton, founder of the William J. Clinton Foundation on May 19 at the C40 Summit in Seoul, South Korea.
Along with the other founding projects, Godrej Garden City will demonstrate climate positive strategies, setting a compelling environmental and economic example for cities to follow.
To reduce the net greenhouse
gas emissions of their Climate Positive Development projects to below zero, property developers and local governments will agree to work in partnership on specific areas of activity.
This includes implementing economically viable innovations in buildings, the generation of clean energy, waste management, water management, and transportation and outdoor lighting systems.
Last year, for the first time, half the world's population (3.2 billion people) lived in cities, and that figure is expected to grow to 70 percent by 2050. Cities also occupy just 2 percent of the world's landmass, yet are responsible for more than two-thirds of global energy use and greenhouse gas emissions.
When the initial 16 projects are completed, nearly one million people will live and work in Climate Positive communities.