No city is 100% climate-proof.
Extreme weather events have become the new norm, the World Meteorological Organisation says. Melting glaciers, flooding cities, relentless wildfires, and unbearable heat waves are always in the news. The threats of climate change are impacting every country in the world, but places will be disproportionately affected—cities in coastal areas will face more flooding, while some regions will have to deal with terrible air quality, forest fires, and water crises. Cities will become inhabitable and people will lose their homes and livelihoods. Lesser developed nations and low-income groups in every country will be most vulnerable.
On the contrary, there are places that will fare better (relatively). There are also many places in the world that are already taking action against climate change and making policies to mitigate the risks. In this article, we’ll focus on the world’s most climate-resilient cities and what they’re doing to prepare for the worst.
If you’re living in a city that’s going to look very different in the next couple of decades, then perhaps it makes sense to follow climate news more obsessively and vote for leaders who will work to prevent catastrophes. A report by the World Bank predicts that 140 million people could be displaced due to climate change and they would have to migrate within their countries’ borders by 2050.