Go back to nature to reduce city heat

Last summer, as Europe recorded its second highest temperatures on record, sun-baked southern countries responded by limiting the use of air conditioning.  

Spain, Greece and Italy all prohibited public buildings from being chilled below a minimum temperature in temporary measures designed to cut energy use. France announced fines of €750 for businesses that left doors open while air conditioning was running and Hanover in Germany banned the use of aircon altogether in all buildings except hospitals and schools. 

In cities struggling with increasing temperatures, reducing people’s ability to cool down may seem counter productive. Workers blasted the measures, saying Spain’s limit of 27 degrees was too high to work in comfort. Madrid’s regional leader Isabel Díaz Ayuso announced she would ignore them altogether, saying they generated insecurity. 

But with climate targets becoming increasingly hard to reach — the UK recently announced it would miss its goals on almost every front — short term pain is necessary for long term gain. And for Esade’s climate experts, this means living at harmony with nature — not fighting against it. 

A summer for all species 

“Summer arrives for all the species that inhabit the planet Earth and we must alleviate the rest of the human pressures that they receive so that they can survive,” says Rafael Sardá, a senior scientist at the National Council for Scientific Research and an Esade academic collaborator since 1991. 

We are not the only species using natural resources

“All this is not banal for humanity, since man is absolutely dependent on the biodiversity that surrounds us. Global warming leads us to change the energy sources we use, also to better manage them and, above all, to learn how to save energy. But it should also lead us to think about how it affects the functioning of their natural systems. We are not the only ones who use these natural resources.” 

Juan Pablo Casadiego, PhD candidate at the Esade Institute for Social Innovation and member of the Esade Center for Social Impact, agrees. “Why are we not studying ways to organize in a more harmonious way with other species?” he asks.   

Avoiding global collapse 

Casadiego, whose research links social-ecological systems with corporate sustainability, says he is “deeply concerned” with what he says is humanity’s main challenge: preventing global devastation.  

“The ongoing massive extinction of species and degradation of rich biodiverse habitats are driving us to a global socio-ecological collapse,” he says. “These changes threaten the existence of not only wildlife and ecosystems' health, but humankind's safe operating space.” 

Despite the bleak forecast, Casadiego says there is an alternative approach — but businesses need to re-think their definitions of success to achieve it. 

Work with, not against, nature 

“We should find alternative and collaborative forms of organizing that aim to holistically address the common goal of enhancing ecological resilience and regenerative rates,” he explains.  

“This suggests business organizations need to rethink their purpose, mission, and success indicators. Managerial epistemologies rely on the idea that technology can solve environmental issues through market-based solutions, efficiency, and governance means. In contrast, a critical view calls for a more comprehensive understanding of social-ecological issues. 

“In this sense, effective action should consider (re)learning from indigenous knowledge, and natural rhythms and laws. There is an opportunity to approach environmental issues through interdisciplinary collaborations to bridge ecological, social sciences, ancestral regenerative practices.” 

Focus on biodiversity 

For Àngel Castiñeira, director of the Esade Center for LeadershipS and Sustainability and professor in the Department of Society, Politics and Sustainability, this means bringing biodiversity goals into focus.  

Businesses need to re-think their definitions of success to avoid global collapse

“The climate crisis and the biodiversity crisis are intrinsically linked, and we need to respond jointly and efficiently to both of them,” he says. “Just as the climate emergency has triggered the fundamental goals of mitigation, adaptation, and resilience, the environmental emergency embodied by the accelerated global loss of biodiversity should also trigger goals, in this case, related to protection, conservation, and restoration.   

“Often, these biodiversity goals are not especially sensitive for sectors such as business, but they should be. It is worth recalling that 55% of the world’s GDP, with all that entails for the economy, is dependent on biodiversity.” 

Practical measures 

The warnings are stark. But what do they mean for businesses who need to address increasing temperatures and ensure the safety of their workers in the here and now? 

According to Juan Pablo Casadiego, everybody should take action. “It’s important to take individual responsibility for the climate emergency, to reduce emissions as much as possible and, of course, to shift to a plant-base diet,” he says.  

“Going vegan, for instance, is not only a way of readdressing our mutually beneficial relationship with animals and ecological systems, but also a consumption choice with a high impact in reducing our ecological footprint.” 

On a wider scale, lessons can be learned from the innovative planning that’s turning urban areas from ‘heat islands’ — when temperatures are higher in cities than rural areas due to an over-abundance of concrete, glass and transport and high energy use - into sponge cities. 

Go green 

“The most obvious way to fight the urban heat island effect is to reintroduce vegetation – expand green cover, plant street trees, install green roofs, etc,” advises the World Economic Forum.  

Cities leading the way in tackling extreme urban heat include Singapore, which has introduced 86 strategies including a prolific use of green infrastructure (green roofs, walls, façade, parks and open spaces) and water features to act as cool sinks; Medellín, which implemented a $16.3 million urban design program to plant 8,800 trees and palms in 30 green corridors throughout the city; Zhuhai, one of China’s 30 national ‘sponge cities’ which have replaced hard surfaces such as roads and pavements with porous materials, green roofs and verges, vegetation buffer zones and rainwater wetlands.  

And in Madrid, a planned 14.5 hectare ‘wind garden’ is being created with the aim of lowering temperatures in the city by up to 4 degrees.  

As well as reducing heat and the impact of flooding, transforming concrete jungles into green havens provides essential habitat for other species.  

As Rafael Sardá notes: “To make the world a more equitable and supportive place, we need to be both carbon neutral and biodiversity positive.”