Solar Impulse Foundation launches a 'Solutions Guide for Cities' to help cities reach net zero goals guide unveiled at COP27

Ahead of the Solutions and Cities thematic Day at the international climate conference COP 27, the Solar Impulse Foundation is launching its innovative Solutions Guide for Cities, a compilation of cleantech solutions designed to help urban centres quickly build a robust climate mitigation program. The Guide will be officially introduced during the European Commission virtual program for COP 27 and can be followed in a live webinar exploring how cities can unlock the opportunities in their ecological transition.

Lisbon will be one of the first pilot cities for the Guide. Other interested cities include Stockholm, Geneva, and the Paris region (Île-de-France). Carlos Moedas, The Mayor of Lisbon declared: "As Mayor of Lisbon, I am proud and committed to endorsing the Solutions for Cities Initiative that the Solar Impulse Foundation is leading. Cities are uniquely placed to provide a sustainable economic model where clean energy serves the needs of our citizens, in particular the most vulnerable. Lisbon is committed to delivering that sustainable approach with new technologies and innovative solutions. To achieve that, I count on the support of the Solar Impulse Foundation and the relentless determination of my friend Bertrand Piccard.

“Our Foundation has identified more than 1,400 technological solutions that exist today to protect the environment in an economically profitable way, but the world is not moving fast enough to acquire the implementations needed to reach carbon neutrality,” said Bertrand Piccard, founder and chairman, Solar Impulse Foundation.

“Cities are the primary generators of economic activity and at the same time they are responsible for three-quarters of global carbon emissions. Our Solution Guide for Cities demonstrates how solutions can be implemented in a profitable way to help speed their decarbonization plans.”

Among the solutions vetted and labeled by the Solar Impulse Foundation as both clean and profitable, the foundation selected a sample of 188 that are effectively solving key challenges for cities' decarbonization and had real life case studies of implementation across +130 municipalities and 28 countries. Solar Impulse-identified solutions for cities include more environmentally friendly building materials such as recycled concrete made of processed mixed granulated demolished rubble, efficient bio based insulation panels, anti-glare and heat managing glass for windows, greywater recycling or urban vegetalization optimization software, vehicle-to-grid, geothermal storage and geothermal air-water heat pumps, as well as often overlooked but highly effective energy efficiency measures.

Despite the increasing sense of urgency, most cities have not started net-zero planning because they lack an analysis of key sectors contributing to their emissions, have no access to the most relevant technologies and solutions, and face difficulties in prioritizing their efforts. The Guide addresses these core issues by showing where actions can be taken across the value chains of five main sectors that are closely interlinked with a city’s ecosystem : Energy & Power grid Construction & Buildings, Mobility & Logistics, Waste management and Water and Urban Infrastructure.

It details and addresses the myriad “pain points” that city leaders face in managing their ecological transition, including significant adoption roadblocks. The Guide utilises a unique ‘bottoms up approach’, leveraging cleantech innovators' knowledge of their clients’ adoption barriers and highlights their success stories to inspire climate action. “We believe the players that are most eager to boost climate solutions adoption are the ones that can make a business out of it,” continued Piccard. “Yet we recognise that the solutions and their capabilities are only part of the puzzle. The goal is to modernise the legal framework in order to create a need to pull the solutions to the market.”

To assist in this task the Solar Impulse Foundation invited other organisations, also called “systemic enablers”, to join the initiative and share their best practices to move from urban vision to solutions adoption. These groups, including the World Wildlife Foundation, the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives (ICLEI), and NetZeroCities Climate, among others, have been working on these requirements for many years and will help cities in deploying solutions from the Guide.

About Bertrand Piccard
A pioneering spirit and an influential voice to encourage the implementation of efficient solutions. One of the first, as early as the 2000s, to consider ecology through the lens of profitability, Bertrand Piccard is considered an opinion leader on the themes of innovation and sustainability. Chairman of the Solar Impulse Foundation, he promotes qualitative growth by demonstrating the economic potential of clean technologies. Denouncing the absurdity of polluting and inefficient systems that are still too often used today, he advocates for the modernization of the legal framework in order to facilitate access to the market for efficient solutions. His voice is heard within the largest institutions, such as the United Nations, the European Commission, the World Economic Forum… and his commitment has earned him several nominations, such as Champion of the Earth, and United Nations Goodwill Ambassador.

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