By Lucy Mui,

This article originally appeared on The Climate Group and is republished with permission.

NEW YORK: This year’s Climate Week NYC has seen 120 high-level events that convened business, government and civil society leaders to discuss the opportunities arising from tackling climate change. Among these events, last week Denmark and New York showed how to team up to share innovative solutions to realize these goals.

At the event “Urban Innovation for Livable Cities”, hosted by the Danish CleanTech Hub, clean energy leaders from Denmark and New York came together to discuss why such collaboration is so crucial for a sustainable future and to share their progress.

Cities on the coast are facing an urgent danger due to rising sea levels driven by climate change. However, this danger can be a great opportunity to collaborate and innovate, the speakers emphasized. In fact, the event aimed to disprove the myth that urban sustainability is expensive, demonstrating how projects already in place and underway are the smart alternative.

A NEED FOR COLLABORATION

Long-term planning came was the point of the speeches of Dan Zarrilli, Director of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery and Resiliency of New York City, and Angela Licata, Deputy Commissioner for Sustainability for the NYC Department of Environmental Protection (NYC DEP), who shared the city’s strategic vision for resiliency.

Private development comprises 48% of land use distribution in NYC combined sewer areas, showing how public and private partnerships are a necessary step to building greener cities. Through such partnerships, the NYC DEP has been able to implement bioswales, which are landscape elements designed to remove silt and pollution from surface runoff water, on the sidewalks of the city. These drainage courses are part of their long-term stormwater management planning.

Denmark also demonstrated the importance of public-private partnerships, with representatives from the cities of Aarhus and Copenhagen – as well as technology and engineering firms. In Copenhagen, building resiliency has involved building upon existing infrastructure and following the natural flow of water.

Lykke Leonardsen, Head of Climate for the City of Copenhagen, talked about the necessity for imitating models and systems of the nature to solve human’s complex problems, since “water flow does not understand administrative boundaries.” With over 300 projects, Copenhagen has invested US$1.5 billion in green infrastructure and resilient city solutions.

INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS

While both New York and Denmark have seen advances and achievements in their efforts, the event also shows how a sustainable future must be sustained by new thinking, practices, and relationships. Christian Nyurep, from global engineering consultancy Ramboll-Environ, urged businesses, policymakers and citizens to “allow the crazy visions.” Jens-Peter Saul, CEO of Ramboll, pointed to the power of youth: “Engage young people. Not top down, you have to include young people. We do this for them.”

Even if these collaborations are a fundamental step to tackle climate change, Connie Hedegaard, former European Commissioner for Climate Action, stressed the need to “compare notes on a more systematic level.” In his closing statement, Danish Prime Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen called out cities and energy as the buzzwords of the future, “but only if we follow through by demanding action behind the words”.