WEBVTT

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Hello from the Kurrant booth

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at the Smart City Expo World Congress in Barcelona.

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I'm here with Julia Lopez Ventura,
the director for Europe at C40 cities.

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Hello, Julia.

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My first question has to be related
to what happened in Valencia last week.

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So we saw many floodings
and I was wondering,

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how is the international community facing

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this issue in terms of digital solutions?

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Thanks for this question.

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As a Spaniard myself living abroad, it's,

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it's been terrible to see the news
of what has happened in Valencia.

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And also,
thank you for making it clear that

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extreme weather events
will only increase with time.

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It is a consequence of our lifestyle and,

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how we have been living in this,

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in this world, emitting emissions
that caused climate change.

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Climate change is already here.

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And as you said Emma, extreme weather
events like flooding, but also heatwaves,

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droughts, will only increase.

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We will see an increase
in the periodicity of these events.

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What we also see is that

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citizens are increasingly aware
of these risks.

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And there is a big gap between the
perception of these extreme weather events

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and the action of communities
and governments at all levels.

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At C40,
as I said, we work with mayors globally,

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the mayors that are governing the bigger
cities and together with their commitment,

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we are supporting them to do more
and do better.

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The mayors of C40 are totally aware
that climate change is already here,

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and they are delivering policies
and actions

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to protect the communities
from these risks.

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There is a role
that technology can play to help

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in climate action,
particularly around cities

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and in the metropolitan areas,
like what we've seen in Valencia.

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For us, what is important
is that the communities, the governments,

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we all recognize that
climate change is here and that risks

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are included in policymaking,
which is not always the case.

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It is important that cities
start analyzing

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what are the risks
that their communities are exposed to,

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because not all communities
are exposed to the same risks.

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And once you have this information,
it is important to include

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these risks into policymaking.

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Once you have done this,
you can work with the communities, work

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with stakeholders, work with the ecosystem
to help bring in these solutions.

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It is equally important to understand
that when it comes to climate change,

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we need to mitigate
greenhouse gas emissions, and this

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includes decarbonizing our lifestyles,
our economy,

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but also adapt to the climate
change effects that are happening now.

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It's not futurist futuristic scenario.

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Climate change is already happening,
as we saw last last week in Valencia unfortunately.

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To be more concrete,

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what type of solutions can we adopt

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there is lots that the ecosystem can do in
the major areas

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that need to be decarbonized
in the next few years,

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starting, for example, with buildings
and energy, renewables will be,

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an increasing

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economic area in the next few years
and decades

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where technological, and industry
can play a role.

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Buildings efficiency,
how to work to monitor the efficiency,

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the energy consumption
in buildings and monitor these efficiency

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will be an increasing, area as well.

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In the mobility sector, decarbonizing

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transport system,
both private and public, will be important

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and equally supporting
the electrification of the fleets.

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And this is another area
that will be increasingly important

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in the next few years.

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Why is it still taking cities

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so long
to turn to these digital solutions?

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What's the issue there?

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So bringing solutions,

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easy and in an affordable way.

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It's very complicated.

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We need to take action and decisions
now to protect the communities

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in the next few years,
but also the future communities.

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It's a question of building policies,
strong policies, that include these risks.

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As I was mentioning earlier,
but also identifying the funds

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to implement all these changes,
they will not come tomorrow,

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but we need to start thinking about
what will the future be like

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now and start up taking actions also now,
and we will start

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seeing the fruits of these actions
in the next few years to come.

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Building hard infrastructure.

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requires also some meditation,

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taking into account many factors.

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What we don't want our governments
to make rushed actions and rash decisions,

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without taking into account
all the factors,

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without factoring in climate change,
but also the residents

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in these areas that are affecting
what are the needs of these residents?

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The issues that they have in Thailand

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are not the same
as the ones they have in Canada.

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So why is it important

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to keep the international community
connected and talking to each other?

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It's true that climate change is affecting
unequally cities globally.

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What's happening in
Jakarta might be different

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from what's happening in Oslo,
for example,

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but climate change will end up
affecting us all.

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What is important is that we understand
how will climate change affect us,

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and that we start delivering policies
that protects residents

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and communities
from these adverse climate change effects.

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And, it's also important
that, organizations like C40

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bring together different voices
from different countries

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to make the case for climate change,
continue raising their voices

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about the situation in their cities,
regardless of where they are in the world.

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Seven out of every ten
mayors are telling us

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that their city is already facing
severe extreme weather events.

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I think it is

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important that mayors, they united in
what could be one of the most important

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challenges of humanity
in the next few years,

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and that they set the tone and the path

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for what needs to be done
when it comes to urban climate action,

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but also equally important,
to engage the communities

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and the stakeholders
working with the cities.

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Cities.

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Mayors cannot deliver
climate action alone.

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They need technological systems
to come and support them in the major

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areas to be decarbonized in the future,
which are renewables.

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So energy, buildings,
increasing energy efficiency

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and helping in the electrification
of the transport systems.